The Meaning of Life
by Seren147
Summary: Seto Kaiba struggles to find something worth living for until he meets a young girl one night outside of KaibaCorp and she changes his life forever. SetoxSerenity, HAS BEEN REVISED BUT IS ON HIATUS.
1. Of thoughts and decisions

Hello all! Well this is my second YGO fanfic, a multi-chapter story that is basically a Seto/Serenity fic with some Joey/Mai in it. I hope that everyone who reads this story of mine enjoys it greatly and please, feel free to leave me a review! I will greatly appreciate it and thank you so much! Oh, and just to let you know, I only own the plot of this story, not Yu-Gi-Oh!

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**_Prologue_**

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A wonderful reviewer of this story asked me to set the storyline by providing profiles for each major character (i.e. to establish age, personality, etc.) There are **no** OOC situations in this story, but I also thought it would be helpful to present the profiles for more in-depth character analysis.

**Profiles:**

**Seto Kaiba:** Rich, handsome, powerful and influential, Kaiba is the head of his own multi-billion dollar company and rules over it, along with every other aspect of his life, with an iron fist. Cold, smart, ruthless, but not heartless, he thinks friendship is a waste of time and cares for no one besides his only other living relative, his little brother Mokuba. Things start to change, however, after the enigmatic Kaiba finds himself in a peculiar situation with a young girl named Serenity. Along with getting to know Serenity, Kaiba is now having to look at his life in a different light and discover who he truly is. As for appearance, Seto has brown hair and piercing blue eyes and, along with running his own company, is a senior at Domino High School. Seto is eighteen years of age.

**Serenity Wheeler:** Young, pretty, and innocent to the point of being naïve, Serenity unintentionally met Kaiba late one night after getting into a bad situation. Feeling indebted for his help, Serenity tries to make friends with the guarded Seto Kaiba and earn his trust. Serenity has an older brother, Joey, and also attends Domino High School, where she is a junior. Serenity has light brown hair and warm hazel eyes, and is seventeen years old.

**Joey Wheeler:** Serenity's older brother, Joey is a friendly, easy-going, if not too smart, guy. He would do anything to protect his little sister and is loyal to his friends till the end. Never having gotten along with Kaiba, Joey hates the fact that his sister is interested in getting to know Kaiba better and vehemently denies the fact that Kaiba is "good". Distrustful of Kaiba, he does not approve of Serenity visiting him and, if he could help it, would cut off any and all ties to the rich CEO in a heartbeat. Joey has blond hair and brown eyes and, like Kaiba, is a senior at Domino High School. He has a crush on his friend Mai and is eighteen years old.

**Mai Valentine:** Rich, pretty, and younger then she looks, Mai is a fiery young woman who is a force to be reckoned with. Smart and witty, she is a friend to both Joey and Serenity and would stand by them throughout anything. Although she constantly teases Joey, she knows she has a crush on him and is embarrassed to show it any other way. With curly blond hair and sharp violet eyes, she speaks her mind and doesn't let anyone intimidate her. She attends Domino High, where she is a senior. Mai is eighteen years old.

**Mokuba Kaiba: **Mokuba Kaiba is Seto Kaiba's younger brother and only other living relative. Young, energetic and fun-loving, Mokuba has not had life wear him down as it has done with Seto. He makes friends easily and keeps his heart full of hope. Mokuba wishes to find peace for his turmoiled older brother. Mokuba has shaggy black hair down to the middle of his back and large, dark eyes. He is fourteen years old.

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**The Meaning of Life**

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**_1. Of Thoughts & Decisions_**

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'What is the meaning of life?' Seto Kaiba thought, staring blankly at his computer screen. The brown haired CEO was leaning back in his chair, his chin in his hand. It was after hours at KaibaCorp, and there he sat, once again, working until all hours of the night.

Or at least he _was_ working, that is, until his mind decided to turn to its own thoughts instead of finishing up that day's work.

'What is the meaning of all of this? Kaiba thought again. 'Every day I sit here, at my desk, and everything is always the same.'

His cool blue eyes suddenly focused on what was on his monitor. 'Nothing but the same thing, day in and day out. What does it all mean?'

He brought his hands up to his pale face and rubbed it. "God I need some sleep," he said out loud, "For once I think all of this work is finally getting to me. Ha, look, I've even started talking to myself." He sighed. "I really do need to leave."

He reached his hand out and turned off his computer. "This can wait." he said. He stood, placed some papers into his briefcase, and snapped it shut.

Walking to his office door, he took one look back at his cold, deserted office. There wasn't much in it except for the necessities. No pictures hanging, no plants, nothing personal at all. His office never seemed warm. It only seemed sharp and cold, as if it were a knife waiting to cut you as you walked in.

He sighed softly and lowered his eyes as he turned off the lights, shut the door behind him, and made his way out.

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Earlier that day

"Hey Joey, aren't you even going to wait for your baby sister?" Serenity gasped, light brown hair flying, as she ran to catch up with her big brother. School had just let out and she had seen Joey making his way out to the parking lot without her.

"Oh, hey Serenity." Joey said, smiling. "Heehee…guess I just got caught up in my own thoughts. But hey, I got some exciting news though."

"Oh yeah?" Serenity answered, "What's that?"

"Heehee…," Joey said, "Well you know how I was lookin for a job?"

"Yeah." said Serenity, expectantly. She looked up at him, enjoying how happy her blond big brother seemed to be.

"Well," Joey continued, "I was tellin that to Yuge and the gang earlier, and Yugi mentioned that his grandpa was looking for someone to be a clerk at his shop! Isn't that so cool Serenity?" Joey's smile spread even wider across his face. "Well I was just about to go and tell him that he can quit lookin cause I'm his man!"

Serenity laughed while her brother pointed to himself. "Oh wow, Joey," she told him, "That's great! I sure hope you get it!" She beamed up at him.

"Whadya mean, you _hope_ I get it?" Joey said, looking at her, "Of _course_ I'm gonna get it! Ol' Gramps Motou can't resist _this_ mug! Just watch me!"

Serenity laughed as Joey started jumping up and down in excitement. "Alright Joey, just don't go in there and call him 'Gramps' ok?" They both laughed at this. It was true; Joey had been talking about getting a job for weeks now.

Money had been tight, and even she was thinking about getting one. Anything to help out, anyway. It was hard with just the two of them.

"Well, I think that's great Joey," Serenity said to him, "And I know you'll get it. So go ahead and go over. I'll just walk home with Téa, or maybe I'll hitch a ride with Mai." Serenity ignored the slight blush that came over Joey's face when she had mentioned the blond bombshell Mai Valentine. She wasn't about to get into twenty minutes of trying to calm him down as he loudly proclaimed all the reasons why he _didn't_ like Mai.

"Anyway, don't worry about me," she continued, "I'll be fine."

"Ok then, Serenity." Joey said, "then I'll see you at home later on, k?" Joey started running to where his car waited for him. "Ok!" Serenity yelled out to him, waving at him as he sped away. She watched him get into his car and drive away. Fast.

She turned back around, facing the school, and placed a hand on her hip. 'Hmmmm…now I wonder where Mai or Téa could be?' she thought, trying to think back to when they were talking about their plans earlier that day at lunchtime. 'Oh, Serenity, baka!' she thought, 'Mai had an appointment with her beautician right after school and Téa was going to go check out some dance class.' She groaned, and then looked up at the clear December sky. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I guess today's not _that_ bad…I might as well take my time and walk home.'

She started out of the parking lot and made her way down the street. She didn't live _too_ far away, but then again, she didn't live too close either. She figured that within twenty minutes she would be home.

'This really is a nice day for a walk,' she thought to herself, 'Maybe I should go by that old park near my house later on. It would be a nice change of scenery and I could sit at a picnic table and study for awhile.'

After awhile, she turned down the street she lived on and made her way up to the apartment that she and Joey shared. Unlocking the front door, she made her way inside and threw her backpack and books on the small couch in the living room.

'I'll just leave a note for Joey…' she thought, picking up a writing tablet by the phone. She wrote him a brief message that said she was down at the park if he got home before she came back. While she was writing this, her stomach growled.

'Ohhhh…' she thought, 'maybe I'll just have a quick bite to eat before I leave.'

She made herself a sandwich and then sat down on the couch, turning on the TV to watch some anime.

When she was done, she looked up at the clock and saw that it was getting late. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'If I want to get some studying done then I better hurry.'

She grabbed her backpack and a few books and made her way out the door. As she started walking down the street, she hummed a bit to herself and thought of how peaceful it was outside.

Usually Joey was bugging her for something or another, but with him at the game shop, she felt like she could be her own person. She liked not having him around all the time. It gave her a chance to be her, not just 'Joey's sister', as she knew the rest of the gang thought of her.

Right now, solitude was her friend.

As she reached the park, she saw a little picnic table near a water fountain and decided it would be the perfect place to sit.

She shivered a little and pulled her coat closer around her. The wind had picked up a bit and the sky was overcast. She didn't think it was going to rain, but it sure was cold.

She reached the picnic table and sat down, placing her books in front of her. The park was very quiet, and she started taking notes, soon losing track of time.

It was only until rain started to fall lightly that she noticed how late it had become. She knew that she and Joey didn't live in the best neighborhood, and cursed herself for losing track of the time.

She started gathering her books up when she suddenly heard someone yell, "Hey! Excuse me Miss, but have you seen a little brown and white dog anywhere?"

A man came panting up to her. He had on a brown trenchcoat and seemed a little dirty, but he looked friendly enough.

"Please," the man continued, "I have to find him. He belongs to my little boy. That dog is all he has now that his mother is gone."

'Ohhhh…' thought Serenity, and couldn't help feeling sorry for them. "I'm sorry; Sir, but I haven't seen one at all." She turned around to scan the park for any little critter that might be running around. "I don't see anything at all around he—"

She was suddenly cut off as she felt a hand come down over her mouth and felt something hard and cold touch her neck. It was a knife.

"Just don't scream and everything will be alright." the man whispered to her.

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Alright! Yey, that was my first chapter of "The Meaning of Life"! Well I hope that you all liked it very much…I just revised this chapter and will be revising the others as well so that they are better then what they used to be…new format, added a few new things to the story…yey! Anyway, I will appreciate any and all reviews, so PLEASE R&R! Oh, and sorry this chapter is so short, the next chapters will be longer and hopefully better…well…R&R! Ja ne!

~Seren147


	2. The wind brings answers

Hello again! Well here I am, with chapter two of my fic…hope you all like it, and, just a reminder, I do NOT own YGO. Thanks to all of you who reviewed my first chapter! ^_^ I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well, and please R&R! ^_^ Thank you!

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**_2. The Wind Brings Answers_**

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'Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening…' Serenity thought to herself, 'You are so stupid, Serenity! What have you got yourself into?'

She tried to move, but the cold touch of the knife on her neck prevented her from getting away. 'Oh God,' she thought, 'What does he want?' She didn't know what else to do except wait for the man to tell her what he wanted. She stopped struggling and just waited, her eyes wide with fear.

She felt him lean over her shoulder and next to her ear. He then whispered to her, "You're going to come with me, little lady, and we're gonna go for a ride." His breath was sour in her face and she winced.

He continued, "See that white van over there?" He turned her head so she could see it in the distance. "Well," he said, "we're just going to calmly walk over there and get in. If you even think about moving, well, haha, let's just say that you'll have other things to worry about then what will happen to you later."

He pushed her ahead with his body and they began walking towards the van. Serenity felt her chest heave in fear as they approached the vehicle. Her hazel eyes searched everywhere for some way she could run, some way she could escape. But she saw none.

She resorted to thinking about an escape plan in her mind. There was no way she had any intention of staying passive throughout whatever he planned to do with her.

Suddenly her thoughts were broken as the white van loomed ominously in front of her. The man, once kindly, now threw her in roughly as the van's side door opened. Apparently, there had been an accomplice inside of the van waiting for them to get there. Serenity grunted as she hit her head on the other side of the van from the force of the first man's throw. Then he quickly got in after her and the van sped away.

Serenity looked up, dazed, to see the man's fist come crashing down on her before she lost consciousness completely.

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'Yeah! I'm gonna love that job!' Joey thought, as he walked into the small apartment that he shared with Serenity. It was dark inside.

'Hmmm…' Joey thought, 'Wonder where Serenity is? Usually she's makin me dinner or somethin.' With that thought, his stomach began to growl.

He turned on the light and went over to the notepad by the phone. 'Hey Joey…I'm at the park…be back soon!' he read. "The park!" Joey said out loud, "What's she doin there? She should be home by now! She knows I don't like her going out in this creepy neighborhood alone…" He frowned, then looked at the clock. The numbers 7:23 PM glowed back at him. 'Geez, it's so late…' he thought. Then he glanced out the window. 'And it's gettin really dark out there…yeah, she should definitely be home by now.' Joey thought, beginning to get worried. 'Well, I better go find her. Dinner can wait.'

He placed the pad back down by the phone and picked up his car keys again. Then he walked over to the door and opened it, sighing as he closed it behind him. He was going to go find his sister.

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'Fucking Imbeciles.' Kaiba thought. 'How hard is it to find good help these days?' He was alone, standing in the front lobby of KaibaCorp where he had found that the main entrance was locked. 'There's supposed to be a guard in every corridor!' he thought angrily. He needed that guard to let him out.

He quickly walked over to the receptionist's desk and picked up the phone. 'Damn it!' he thought, looking at all the buttons and not knowing which one to press to call the guards. He set his briefcase down on top of the desk and ran a hand through his neat brown hair, making it not-so-neat anymore.

'There are so many damn buttons on these phones!' he thought. Usually, whenever he needed a security guard or anyone while in his office, he just told (yelled at) his secretary to get them via his intercom. That only required the push of one button. 'I should really find better help.' he thought.

"Arrrrggggh!" he said angrily, slamming the phone down so hard that it echoed throughout the building. 'There, maybe now someone will come.' he thought bitterly, but, after a few minutes when no one showed up, he began to see red.

He looked around again and noticed a walkie-talkie lying on the far end of the desk. He quickly picked it up and turned it on.

"This is Seto Kaiba," he said menacingly into it, "and if anyone values their job, then they better get their ass down to the front lobby right away and open this door for me if they know what's good for them."

A reply came back immediately. "Y-Yes, Mr. Kaiba Sir, I-I-I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, Sir."

"Just get down here." Seto said back, and quickly turned off the walkie-talkie. He set it down and grabbed his briefcase.

The guard appeared around the corner and hurriedly walked over to where Seto was waiting.

"I-I'm s-so sorry, Mr. Kaiba Sir, please, Sir, fo-forgive me, Sir…" As he passed by Seto to open the door, Seto inhaled sharply and the bitter smell of marijuana smoke entered his nose. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the back of the guard, who was busy fumbling with his keys.

"So, where were you?" Seto asked him, icily.

The guard opened the door and turned to Seto. "Oh, ah, n-nowhere Sir, I-I just thought I h-heard a n-noise at the other end o-of the building, Sir." He smiled nervously at his boss.

"Oh, I see." said Seto, "even thought there are numerous guards all over this building, you went to check it yourself instead of radioing it in. Makes sense, un-hun. And I suppose you found something to make it worth your effort while I waited here so…patiently." Seto smirked cruelly at the guard as he saw the man's eyes widen.

"Umm, well, S-Sir, n-no, it was nothing." The guard averted his eyes to the floor, not willing to see Seto's gaze boring into him.

"Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't." Seto said. "I'm also sure that you'll have plenty of time to look for nothing while you're at home without a job."

The guard looked up. "No, p-please Sir, I have a family that I need to take care of, a-and—"

Seto cut him off sharply and said, "I'm sure you take real good care of them while you spend all of your money on weed!" The guard opened his mouth but no words came out.

Seto continued, "Did you honestly think you could hide it from me? Fool. Now give me your keys and your badge and get out right now."

The man silently handed him the belongings and walked out.

"Idiot." Seto said, striding out and locking the door behind him as he steeped out into the cool night. He turned around and looked up at the sky. There was a bright full moon, and, as he looked towards the dark parking lot, a cold wind blew and ruffled his dark hair. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to clear his mind. He was more awake now.

After standing that way for a few minutes, briefcase in hand and trenchcoat flowing around him, he opened his eyes and started walking toward the parking lot where he had parked one of his many luxury cars that morning. He had driven his black M3 BMW to work today. He could have had the limo pick him up, but he wanted time to think alone tonight. He had a lot of things on his mind.

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Joey screeched his car to a halt and managed to run over a curb as he reached the park. Not caring, he got out and looked around. 'Damn, where is she?' he thought.

He closed his car door and his eyes searched the park for any sign of life. It was deserted.

Starting to get scared, he decided to go through the park just to make sure.

"Serenity!" he called out, waiting for an answer. After none came, he started jogging through the park, looking for any trace of her. "Serenity!"

The wind blew again and some papers blowing around nearby caught his eye. He noticed they were coming from one of the picnic tables. "Serenity." he said softly to himself as he raced over to the table. There were two books lying on it as well as a few papers. He recognized his sister's handwriting and looked around. She was gone.

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Well, that's the end of the second chapter. I hope it's interesting so far! I'm fairly new at writing fictions, this is only my second story. Please read and review and let me know if there is anything you would like to see happen in the story or if there is anything I can improve. All reviews welcome! Please tell me if you like it so far! I will appreciate it soooo much! (And I'll give you a nice cookie too! ^_^ !)

~Seren147


	3. A Tragic Night

Alright! Here's the next chapter of "The Meaning of Life", that is to say…chapter 3! ^_^ I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, although I still wish that I did. *sigh* Oh, and yeah, so you pretty much know who is going to come to Serenity's rescue, but come on, remember that it is a S/S fic. Don't blame me if it's *predictable* I'm doing my best here to make it interesting! ~bows~ Thank you. Oh, and don't forget to R&R!

For those of you who did review, you all get a cookie and a Seto Kaiba plushie! Now…without further delay, on with the story!

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**_3. A Tragic Night_**

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"Uhhh…" Serenity groggily opened her eyes. "Wh-where am I?" Dazed, she looked around. She seemed to be in some small van or something; it was really dark. The only light came from somewhere outside, probably from where a streetlamp glared and made its way into her surroundings.

"Oww…" She moaned to herself, bringing one of her hands up to rub her head, "My head…" Suddenly she gasped when she heard another, deeper voice from coming from somewhere to her right. "Well well," the voice said, "looks like Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up."

Suddenly, everything that had happened came back to her in a rush. "N-no" She stammered. "W-who are you? What do you want with me?" She could hear her voice rise in hysteria and realized that that only served to make her heart pound harder. She tried to swallow and realized she couldn't.

'Joey' she thought, but she knew that where ever this creep had taken her, Joey wouldn't be around to rescue her soon. She didn't even know where she was at, how would he? With this realization, she began to cry.

"Boy, you sure know how to pick em" Came another voice, this one towards the front of the vehicle. Serenity looked quickly in that direction and vaguely saw an outline of another man's face. She realized that this was the one who, earlier, had driven the van away as soon as the other man had tossed her in at the park.

The strange man edged closer and continued, "She sure is a looker." Suddenly Serenity was terrified of the look she saw in the man's eyes, and, proving her worst nightmare true, he reached forward and touched her leg softly.

Serenity had both the urge to vomit and to scream, and decided that it would serve her better to scream while she still had the chance.

She opened her mouth wide, only to have the first man clamp his hand over it in a grip that felt like steel.

Serenity could do nothing but stare with wide eyes while the man said, "Ok, you have her first, while I keep her silent. But then it's my turn." The other man looked at him with a sly smile on his face and quickly nodded. Then he reached towards Serenity's blouse.

Eyes wide with fear, all she could do was struggle as best she could while it seemed as if all hope were lost to her. No one was going to save her.

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Making his way to the parking lot of KaibaCorp, Seto couldn't help but frown. Everything that he wanted to achieve in life had been done, and he wasn't even in his twenties yet. He was successful, he was rich, and he was superior to anyone who had ever crossed his path.

He smirked at the thoughts of how he had effortlessly climbed his way to the top, stepping on all of those fools who only dreamt of it instead of actually doing it.

He no longer had to deal with his stepfather, KaibaCorp was finally where he had aimed it to be, and he had provided an ideal life for Mokuba. Mokuba would never have to go through what Seto had to.

So not only had Seto provided the life he wanted for Mokuba, but he had also provided the life he wanted for himself. Or so he thought. Why did it all feel meaningless to him then? He was the youngest, richest CEO in Japan's history, so why did he feel so empty?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he realized he had reached his car. It wasn't like him to walk without regard to his surroundings, but this had been an unusual night all around. He reached for his keys, opened the door, and threw his briefcase onto the passenger side seat.

Before climbing in himself, he closed his eyes and stretched his neck from side to side. When he opened them again, his vision was drawn to a white van parked some distance away in the KaibaCorp parking lot. 'Damn.' He thought. 'Why do they always pick _my _parking lot?' Sighing, he got into his car and started to drive towards the van.

There were numerous times before when he or his staff had caught a van full of teenagers either doing drugs or having sex. Or both.

His car drew to a stop along side the van. He stepped out of his car, but then noticed that the van was rocking a bit. 'Shit.' He thought. He wasn't in the mood to bust up an orgy. He had too much on his mind and he didn't want to deal with a bunch of hormone-driven fools who might be a little upset at his intrusion.

Not that he couldn't handle them, he could. He just didn't feel like dealing with a bunch of crap right now after having to deal with crap from the imbeciles that worked at his company all day. Although he did love to fire them. He smirked at the thought.

Suddenly he yawned, and was again reminded of how tired he was. Looking back at the van one last time, he decided that it wasn't worth it. 'Let them have their fun' he thought in disgust.

He reopened the door of his BMW and got back inside.

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Looking down at Serenity's papers in disbelief, Joey sank to his knees in the cold, wet grass of the park. "Serenity" he said softly. How could his little sister be gone? 'I failed her,' he thought, 'I was supposed to keep her safe, and I didn't!'

Tears of sadness and anger stung his eyes. Rapidly, however, he could feel that rage was beginning to take him over. At his sides, his hands balled themselves into fists, crushing Serenity's papers in his grasp. How could he have failed her like this? He was so angry at himself.

'Joey, come on man, you've got to think of something!' he yelled at himself. 'Sitten here like this ain't gonna help her at all.' He made himself get up and the tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks made good on their promise.

He stood there, looking down at his feet, trying to think of something. Then, quickly, he grabbed all of Serenity's books and papers that he could find and raced back to his car. He had decided to enlist the help of Yugi, Tristan and Duke whether they wanted to come or not. He knew they would though. That's why they were his best buds.

Hopping into his car, he quickly put the key into the ignition and sped away into the night. He was on a mission, and there was no way that he was going to fail Serenity this time. No way. He was going to find her if it was the last thing he ever did.

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Well, that's all for chapter 3! How did you all like it? I hope very much. (Just go ahead and review, you know you want to! Well…at least you know that I want you to. ^_^ ) Thanks everyone!

~Seren147


	4. Dreams and Reality

Hello everybody! Well I'm back in action here after a minor delay…that's ok though, cause I wrote an even longer chapter this time! ^_^ Yey! Well I would like to thank all of the reviewers, you guys are so great! Now, to go along with your earlier cookie and Kaiba plushie, you now get a life size cardboard cutout of Seto! (Complete with the long flowing trench coat, oh yeah!) I'll also throw in a couple of lollypops for each of you. There! Now are those good gifts or what? Yep! Now, on to the story!

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_**4. Dreams & Reality**_

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As Domino lay seemingly quiet and dark, Yugi Motou turned in his bed. He happened to be having one of the best dreams of his young life, and a smile lay upon his face.

In his dream, Yugi had mysteriously grown two feet taller, had been crowned "cutest and most powerful Duel King of the World" and had thousands of fangirls who were just dying to meet him, among other things.

The most interesting thing in his dream, however, was Yami. Yami was in the kitchen baking cookies for him! 'Yum!' Yugi thought in his dream, 'Yami's cookies are the best! I'm going to go check them out.'

Walking into what appeared to be his Grandfather's kitchen; Yugi thought to himself that he was going to turn into Joey if Yami kept making food like this.

In the kitchen, he saw Yami standing in front of the oven in a chef's hat and an apron that had 'Kiss me, I'm Pharaoh' on it. Holding a spatula in one hand, Yami turned to him and said, "They're almost ready, Aibou. Just another moment." Then he turned back around and looked into the oven.

Just then, they heard a knock on the front door. "Better get that Aibou," said Yami, "I've got these little sugars to take care of."

Yugi raised his eyebrows at Yami, but started to move towards the front door. When he opened the door, he gasped in excitement and surprise. It was-**BAM! BAM! BAM!**

Yugi bolted upright in his bed. "H-huh?" he mumbled sleepily. **BAM! BAM! BAM!**

There it was again, and Yugi looked around. It seemed to be coming from his bedroom window.

"Hey Yuge, open up!" came a muffled voice, presumably outside of his window. "J-Joey?" Yugi said, confused as to why Joey would be at his house at this time of night. He got up and went to open his window. Yep, it was Joey all right, panting. "Hey Yugi, I've been waitin forever for ya to open up! Where were you?"

Suppressing a yawn, Yugi answered, "In bed, Joey, which is where I thought you would be right now. What's going on?"

"Hey, Yuge, come on, ya gotta help me!" Joey said, his voice raising. "Serenity's gone and we gotta find her!"

Yugi looked closer at Joey. His eyes were moving back and forth uneasily and his hair was crazy. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all that night. Clearly, there was something _very_ wrong with Joey.

Yugi took a deep breath. "What do you mean, 'Serenity is gone'?"

Joey brought up his hands and rubbed his temples while he closed his eyes. "Look Yuge, I'm sorry but I've got no time to explain." He let his hands fall back to his sides and opened his eyes. "All I know is that she's gone and we've gotta find her. Please, Yuge, you've gotta come!" He brought up his hands again, this time running them through his hair, furthering its messed up look.

Looking at Joey, Yugi started to get really worried. He nodded to Joey and said, "Ok, Joey, let me get my shoes on and I'll be right there."

A thin smile made its way onto Joey's face, although there was no warmth behind it. "Thanks Yuge," he said, "I knew I could count on you."

With that, Joey turned around and made his way back to his car. Yugi watched him as he walked away, and then quickly went to put his shoes on. Looking down, he noticed that his sneakers did not match well with his Dark Magician pajamas, but it would have to do.

"Yugi, what's happening?" A voice said behind him. Startled, Yugi quickly turned around. It was Yami.

"Oh Yami, we've gotta go help Joey, his sister is missing."

Yami looked down at Yugi and frowned. The he said, "And how does he expect us to find her when we have no clue where she is at?"

Now it was Yugi's turn to frown. "Well, Yami, I'm not sure. All I do know is that Joey is very upset right now and needs our support."

Yami sighed. "Ok, aibou. Let's go." They started to leave when Yugi turned around and said, "Wait. I should leave a note for Grandpa, in case I'm not here when he wakes up." He quickly went out to the living room to the notepad by the phone and left a short message. Turning back to where Yami was waiting, he said, "Ok, _now_ let's go." Yami smiled and they both went out to where Joey was waiting in his car out front.

"Alright, let's go." Joey said, as Yugi approached the car. Yugi looked at him and then, opening the car door, noticed that Tristan and Duke were already in the back seat. He said his hellos and then sat down in the front seat.

"Hey guys, I wanna thank ya for helpin me out here." Joey said as he started the car. "It means a lot to me." Duke, leaning over from the back seat, answered, "Hey, no problem, but what's so urgent that you needed all of us here right now?"

Joey looked at him in the rearview mirror, his face solemn. "Well guys," he said, "I came home from the game shop today and found that Serenity wasn't there. She had left me a note that said she was at the park, studying…" He looked down and his voice grew very quiet. "Well, when I got to the park," Joey continued, "I found her books and stuff on a picnic table." His voice broke as he said the next line: "but she was gone."

Yugi stared ahead silently while Tristan and Duke started hammering Joey with questions.

"Look," Joey said, as he hit the steering wheel with his hands, "I don't know anymore then what I just told you, ok?" He sighed in exasperation as Tristan and Duke finally calmed down.

"Alright Joey, don't worry." Tristan told him. "We're here to help you, bud."

"Yeah" Duke chimed in. "Let's go find Serenity."

"Alright then. Let's go." Joey placed his foot on the gas and they sped away into the night.

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'No!' thought Serenity as the scuzzy man's hand hovered over her. 'This can't be happening…' As Scuzzy's hand started to descend upon her, Serenity started squirming with all her might. There was no way they were going to take her without a fight. "Hold-still-," the other man said, struggling with her. His grip over her mouth loosened and she took the opportunity to give out the loudest shriek she could muster.

"Damn it!" Scuzzy said to the other man, "Keep her quiet!"

"What the hell do you think I'm _trying _to do!" The other man yelled at him. Then he looked down at Serenity. "Shut up, bitch!" he said to her, bringing his hand down upon her face, trying to keep her quiet and still at the same time.

The blow brought tears to her eyes and stung like hell, but Serenity wasn't going to give up with just that. 'They'll have to kill me first' she thought, as she wiggled around harder. The van was shaking quite a bit, and she heard the two men yelling at each other. She didn't stop to listen to what they said; she was just glad that they were distracted with each other and not really paying any attention to her.

She was almost free when she suddenly felt the men's hands lift off her. Startled, she looked up and stopped moving as, to her horror, she saw a twin barrage of fists descend down upon her.

With the threat of what would happen if she lost consciousness growing in her mind, she once again opened her mouth and screamed into the darkness of the van.

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Seto looked up sharply. He had just been about to start his car when he thought that he had heard something. Or someone.

Frowning, he opened his car door once more and steeped out into the cold air. He looked around. Everything was quiet. He was starting to think that it was just his tired mind playing tricks on him when he heard it again.

This time he was sure. It was definitely a scream, and it was definitely coming from the van he was parked in front of. It sounded like it was a girl, and she did not seem to be very happy inside of that van.

He closed his car door quietly and went around to where the van's side door was. Now he could hear shouts and what seemed to be fighting going on inside of the van.

'This can't be right,' he thought, to his growing horror. 'They must have someone trapped inside of there!'

Looking around, he wondered what he should do. The thought entered his mind that maybe he should just leave; he didn't know how many people there were in there or if any of them had any weapons or not.

He walked back towards his car, but stopped near the trunk. He heard another muffled scream coming from inside of the van and made up his mind. He wasn't going to leave whoever was in there to whatever hell those monsters were putting her through. Opening his trunk, he looked for some kind of weapon he could use. "Damn it!" he cursed when he saw his empty trunk.

Then something caught his eye. His car toolbox. He quickly opened it and looked for any item that could possibly be used as a weapon. 'Nothing…' he thought in anger, but then something caught his eye. A tire iron. 'This'll do' he thought. He picked it up and then quietly shut his trunk and made his way back to the van's sliding door. Pulling it open to reveal two men grappling over a struggling young woman, he tapped the tire iron in his hand, smirked, and then said, "Game's over."

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Serenity's eyes popped open at the sound of the van's door being opened. The men above her paused in their assault and then looked at the stranger standing outside of the van. It was dark and she couldn't see him well, but all she could think was 'Joey'. She sat up a little and got a closer look at him. He had dark brown hair and was around Joey's age. Then her eyes went wide. She recognized him! Although she couldn't place his name, she knew that he attended school with her. He had a smug look on his face and was wearing a long white trench coat. Something gleamed in his hand when he moved it. When she recognized what it was, Serenity's hope was restored. This man had come to save her.

As he glared at her attackers, he smirked and moved the tire iron in his hand. Then he spoke in a deep, cruel voice: "Game's over."

"And who the hell are you?" the first man raged at him.

"Oh, it's just some punk kid," said Scuzzy, who then turned to the newcomer and said, "You'd better get lost, boy, if you know what's good for you."

The stranger's smirk never left his face. "And I think you had better leave her alone, if you know what's good for _you."_

Anger etched itself onto both of the men's faces and they left Serenity to move towards the boy.

"Hey!" the first man called to Scuzzy, "You watch her while I take care of this kid." Scuzzy nodded and moved back towards Serenity. "Don't you dare move." he said to her, but she ignored him and looked with hope upon this strange brown-haired boy who had come to save her.

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'I can take him.' Seto thought as one of the bastards came towards him. Looking at the guy, he wasn't worried. The man was way out of shape and Seto knew that he could easily outmaneuver him. He stepped back and allowed for the guy to come out towards him.

"You're gonna wish you were never born, kid." The man said to him.

"Not likely." Seto answered back, ducking as the guy tried to throw a punch to his face. While the guy stumbled, Seto brought the tire iron down and clipped the guy on the back of the neck, bringing his head down even further. Then Seto kicked him in the face, knocking him back into the side of the van. He grabbed the man's collar as the man begged Seto to leave him alone. Disgusted, Seto let go of him and stepped back.

The man breathed a sigh of relief just before Seto's fist crashed under his chin, knocking his head back into the side of the van. The man's body went limp and he slid the rest of the way to the ground, unconscious.

Seto looked down at him and, seeing no threat any time soon (not that there had ever been one to begin with), moved on the man he knew was still left in the van with the girl.

Seto cautiously looked around the side of the door and into the van. The girl was still on the floor. He noticed that she had a cut above her eye and a swollen lip, but overall she seemed ok. She was staring at him with what looked like amazement. 'She looks a little familiar…' Seto thought. 'Hey…where the hell did the other man go?' He turned his head and noticed movement towards the front of the van. The man was doing something over there that Seto couldn't see, but he didn't care much as long as he could get the girl out.

He motioned for her to come to him while the other man was distracted, and she started to move towards him.

Suddenly, the man turned around, grabbed her arm, and threw her back. "Don't even _think_ about it." He said, and pointed something at her. It was a gun.

She gasped and backed up to her original position. The man then trained the gun on Seto. "Drop that." He said, motioning to the tire iron in Seto's hand.

Seto looked at him, expressionless, and then said, "Kiss my ass." At this, the guy began to cackle. "Oh, so you wanna play hard, huh, boy?" The man took a step towards him. "Think you're a big man, do ya? Wanna try to take this?" The man took another step towards Seto. The gun gleamed in his hand and Seto felt sweat roll down his back.

He saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger as he repeated, "Better drop that boy." Seto let the tire iron slip out of his hand, but kept his arms by his side.

"Good boy. You know what's good for you. Now—"

The man never got the chance to finish what he was going to say before glass shattered all around his head and he fell forward.

'Must have been the girl' Seto thought, smiling, before he fell to his knees himself. He turned his head and looked around. Everything before his eyes seemed to be going in slow motion. He looked up at the girl and saw that her eyes were locked on his, full of fear. 'She's so beautiful…' he thought. Then his face clouded with confusion. 'What's wrong with her?' he thought, seeing that the fear on her face was still there. 'She's safe now…'

Then his world faded to black, her face being the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes.

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All right, that was the end of chapter four! How did you all like that? I made it a bit longer to make up for the delay in me updating. I hope it wasn't too long…Well, please review and tell me how you liked it, if there were any errors, what you think might happen or what you would like to see happen…anything! Reviews make me happy!

Well, anyway, I'm almost done with chapter five…it should be up within a few days…so I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Please review! ^_^

~Seren147


	5. Startling Revelations

Hello my lovely readers! Well, here I am, updating with chapter 5! Yey! Heehee…I should be studying for finals right now…but instead I'm eating chocolate, drinking green tea and typing out chapter 5…wheeeee! There's always later to study! (Haha, don't adapt my attitude if you want to succeed…I hope I don't regret this tomorrow…) Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter…please R&R! P.S. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (if I did I wouldn't even _have_ to study, but anyway…) Now, on with the story!

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**_5. Startling Revelations_**

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"Where are we going?" Duke asked Joey as they drove around Domino aimlessly. Two hours had passed and nothing had happened. Joey didn't even seem to really be looking anymore. He just stared straight ahead at the road, his expression unreadable. He seemed to be drowning in grief and self-pity and the car had fallen into silence as they had continued to drive through the city.

Duke was still waiting for an answer from Joey when he felt a vibration in his pocket. It was his cell phone. He pulled it out to see who was calling so late, but the window viewed the number as 'restricted'.

He didn't know who it was and was about to put it back in his pocket, but it was so damn annoying! Whoever it was was persistent. 'Well,' thought Duke, 'it's nobody I know but maybe it has something to do with Dungeon Dice Monsters…if not, whoever it is is going to get hell from me.'

He flipped open his phone to answer it when it stopped vibrating. Whoever it was had hung up.

Duke sighed and went to return it to his pocket again when it started to vibrate once more. 'Fine.' he thought, and flipped it open.

"Devlin here." he said into the phone.

"Duke! I'm so glad I got ahold of you!" Serenity's voice came out loud over the phone. "I thought you would be sleeping. Is Joey with you!"

Duke was about to answer when the car rocked forward. Because the car had been so quiet, Serenity's voice had been loud enough for Joey to hear when she talked. He had pulled over quickly and slammed on the brakes, turning around and yanking the phone out of Duke's hand.

"Serenity!" Joey yelled into the phone.

"Joey!" she said back.

Duke, in the backseat, just sighed. He was glad that Serenity was safe but was upset that he didn't even get to say hi.

"Serenity, where are you? I've been so worried! I've got the guys with me right now and we're lookin for you!" Joey said into the phone, "Are you ok? Are you safe? Where are you?"

"Joey, calm down." Serenity said through the phone. "I'm ok. I'm here at the hospital."

"The hospital! What are you doin there? I thought you said you were ok…" Joey's voice was full of concern. "What happened, Sis?"

"Well…I was at the park…" Serenity began, "and this man came up to me and asked me about a dog…"

Joey interrupted her. "I _told_ you never to talk to strangers, Serenity."

"Yeah, I know Joey." came the quiet reply. "I'm sorry."

Joey's voice softened. "Hey, it's ok Serenity. I'm just glad you're ok. Now tell me what happened."

"Ok Joey." Serenity said. "Well, he grabbed me…"

"The bastard!" Joey yelled. "I'll kill em!"

"Joey, please…let me finish…" came Serenity's voice.

"Ok, ok…" Joey conceded.

"Well, they took me to…to an empty parking lot…and…and…" Serenity didn't finish.

"Hey, Sis, it's ok…" Joey tried to comfort her as he heard her crying on the other end.

"Well…" she sniffed, "just when I thought things were over for me…another man showed up and…saved me."

"He _saved_ you?" Joey exclaimed, "Thank God! I'm gonna kiss the man when I see him!"

"Yeah…except…" Serenity started, but Joey interrupted her once again.

"Where is this guy? I've gotta thank him for savin my baby sister! What's his name? Who are you with? Is he around there?"

"Joey, I'm here with Seto Kaiba." came the reply.

"Seto Kaiba!" Joey yelled, "What'ds that moneybaggin jerk doing there? Is he botherin you?"

"No Joey," Serenity replied quietly. "He saved me."

"Seto Kaiba saved you! How in the hell did that happen?" Joey demanded.

"I…I don't know." Serenity responded. Then her voice grew desperate. "Joey, he's been shot!"

Joey's eyes opened wide in surprise and his mouth dropped open, but no words came out.

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After telling Joey what room she was in, Serenity hung up the hospital phone that was by her bed. She looked over at a nearby clock and saw that it was near two in the morning. She sighed and sunk down into the hard bed. This night seemed to be taking forever. It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago she had been cowering in a van, terrified beyond belief.

She closed her eyes and thought of the man who had saved her. A tear escaped out of her eye when she thought of how he had battled those men on her behalf, a girl that he didn't even know.

She turned on her side and sighed. She had been so happy when he had motioned for her to come to him, so full of hope; she had been ready to run into his arms.

And then…and then…she sniffled softly…one of the men had pulled a gun on her and her precious savior.

Quietly, she started to sob in her bed, the night's events playing behind her closed eyelids.

~Flashback~

The strange man held his arms out for her. He looked familiar, yes, but she still didn't know who he was. She didn't care though. She trusted him.

She began to go towards his outstretched arms when her captor pulled a gun on her. He sneered and said, "Don't even think about it." She looked up at his eyes and knew that he wasn't kidding. He was desperate.

She backed up and looked out at the man who had risked himself to save her. Would he risk this? Her eyes started to fill with tears. She was so close to her freedom; would it be stripped away from her in a heartbeat?

"Drop that." Her attacker was now talking to her would-be savior.

She looked down at the floorboards in sorrow. Could she do nothing?

"Kiss my ass." came the young man's reply.

Tears spilled down her cheeks. She didn't want to see this young man get hurt. 'Please God…' she prayed, 'Please let him be alright. Don't let him get hurt…'

She could still hear them talking outside the van. As she looked down she noticed several empty alcohol bottles nearby. There was a particularly thick-looking glass vodka bottle…she bent down and picked it up.

**Clang!** Looking up, she saw that the brown-haired young man had dropped the tire iron he had been holding while her captor still had the gun pointed at him.

'I can't let him get hurt for me…' she thought. 'I have to help!'

She came up quietly behind the armed man and raised the vodka bottle…he didn't know she was there…and let it crash down on his head with all the strength she had.

His head rolled back and he fell down instantly, but what scared her the most was the noise she had heard. As the man had fallen, she had heard a shot ring out in the darkness. Terrified of what she might see, she slowly lifted her head up to look at the young man who had saved her life. He was staring at her, a small smile on his face. Then he sunk to his knees.

Horrified, she looked from his face to his shirt, where blood was staining through. She wanted to run to him, to hold him, to make everything ok again, but all she could do was stare at him.

A confused look crossed his face as his eyes still bore into hers. She lifted her hand to her mouth and gasped. He fell.

~end flashback~

Serenity opened her eyes to stop the images. Her face was wet with tears and questions ran through her mind about this man that had saved her.

At first, she had only known that he attended the same school as her, but after she had learned his name, she realized that she knew a lot more about him then she had previously thought.

Seto Kaiba. The richest, youngest, and most successful business man in all of Japan. She had heard a lot about him, of course, although most of it had come from her brother and most of it was not good. Joey disliked Seto with a passion, and, from what she had both heard and observed, the feelings were mutual.

She remembered seeing Kaiba walking down the halls at school, tall and cold, ignoring the girls who fawned over him and virtually avoiding everyone. 'He always seemed so angry,' she thought, remembering the gait with which he walked and the air that seemed to surround him. 'Why would someone who seems so indifferent to others come to _my_ rescue?'

She sighed and decided that although she didn't know why, she also didn't care. She was just glad that he had. 'He risked himself for me…' she thought, 'he was hurt because of me! I was only trying to help…I couldn't just remain helpless…'A look of distress crossed her face as she thought about Seto. 'I have to see him. I have to know that he is alright. I'd—I'd never forgive myself if…if…stop it!' she told herself, as the tears started to fill her eyes once more. She knew she wasn't doing either of them any good by thinking bad thoughts. She would just have to wait and hope for the best…and not think about what _might_ have happened.

Although the tears didn't go away, she managed to banish the thoughts from her head and eventually fell asleep. She awoke, however, just a few minutes later to the sound of her door opening, and her first thoughts were that it was Joey and she sat up quickly in her bed.

"Oh, Miss…" came a young woman's voice, "You shouldn't move around so quickly. You need your rest to recover, you know."

Serenity looked at the woman, who carried a tray of something. Food.

"Do you work here? Are you a nurse?" Serenity asked her, knowing that she wasn't, but still a little hopeful nonetheless.

"No, I'm sorry Miss." came the reply. "I'm just bringing you something to eat."

Serenity looked up at the clock and saw that it was now close to 4 AM. 'Where is Joey?' she wondered, and then said to the woman, "But it's so late…I mean, early, to eat…"

"Yes, I know," said the woman, "But the doctor ordered that you be brought something to eat as soon as possible. He said you had a lot of trauma and could use some substance in you." The woman moved to a table beside Serenity's bed and set the tray down. Serenity just looked at it, having no appetite at all.

"Maybe later…" she said to the woman. "Hey, do you think you could call my nurse in here for me?"

"Well," said the other woman, "Ok, but I'll have to go find her first, and that could take a few minutes…" the woman walked over to the side of Serenity's bed. "Or…you see this button here?" She looked down at Serenity and Serenity nodded. "Well, if you push that, the nurse will come."

"Oh…" said Serenity, embarrassed at not having seen it before. "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok." the woman answered, smiling. "Well, I hope you feel better soon." She turned around to leave.

"Thank you." Serenity said, as the woman closed the door behind her. Looking down at the button beside her bed, Serenity struggled within her mind. The only reason why she wanted to talk to the nurse was to ask her questions about how Seto was. She _had_ to know. Her mind was being eaten away with all the questions, even if she chose not to acknowledge it.

Her finger on the button, she decided to press it and then waited. Waited for the nurse to come. Waited for answers. Waited for a release from all the pain and grief that she felt.

A minute later an older woman in scrubs came in. She had a nametag on that read 'Wanda'. On her face was an unreadable expression, and Serenity was unsure of how to approach her with the topic of Seto.

"Ummm…hello." Serenity cautiously said to her.

"Hi," said Wanda, coming over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Well," said Serenity, "a little sore…my face hurts a lot."

"Yeah," answered the nurse, "I guess it would. Your lip was bust and you've got a heck of a shiner on that eye…" the nurse stopped at her bed and placed her hand on Serenity's forehead. "Have you gotten a hold of your family? We tried the number you gave us, but there was no answer."

"Yes," said Serenity, looking up at the nurse, "My brother was out looking for me. I got a hold of a friend that was with him and they're on their way over right now." Serenity lowered her gaze to her bed sheet. "They should be here soon."

The nurse nodded and stepped back. "Well that's good." she said. "I'll inform the receptionist." She turned around to leave. "Take care of yourself, honey, and get some rest. You should be released later today." She had her hand on the doorknob and Serenity knew that she had to act fast.

"Umm…wait!" Serenity called out to her. "Excuse me!" The woman paused in her departure and turned back around. "Yes?" she asked Serenity.

"Well…" Serenity started out, "I was just wondering about the young man who had been brought in with me? A Seto Kaiba? Do you know anything?"

The nurse looked over at her and then came back to the side of Serenity's bed. "I'm sorry," she said, "but he's not in this sector. I'd have to call to find out where he is and get his stats.

"Oh…" said Serenity, "is…is that too much trouble? He…he rescued me and I would like to know how he is…"

"He rescued you?" the nurse said, sitting down on the side of Serenity's bed. "How romantic!"

Serenity felt her face redden. "It's not like that…" she said, "This was starting to happen…" she pointed up to her face, "and he just showed up."

The nurse listened attentively and nodded for her to go on.

"Well," Serenity continued, "There were two men and Seto knocked one of the guys out right away…" she looked down at her hands and grew quiet. "but the other guy…" she paused, her voice wavering as she attempted to tell the nurse what had happened. "the other guy pulled out a gun…and…" she stopped, her voice breaking.

The nurse put a reassuring hand on Serenity's arm and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, honey! Please, you don't have to go on. Just lie back and try to forget those bad things, ok?"

Serenity smiled sadly at the nurse. "It-It's ok." she said. "I just want to know what happened to him! He saved my life and it's all my fault that he got shot!" she sighed, frustrated, and then went on. "after it was all over, I went over to try to help him…there was so much blood on his shirt…I searched his pockets, and, in his trenchcoat, I found his wallet and his cell phone." She paused again, taking a shuddering breath as the tears rolled down her face. "I called the police right away to get help for him…" her voice trailed off. "His name is Seto Kaiba." She finally looked up at the nurse. "He goes to my school. He helped me and he saved me and I want to hug him and thank him, and…-a sob broke out during her speech-…and I need to know he's ok!" she finished.

"Yes," the nurse said softly. "I understand. And I'm sorry." She got up from the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes." The nurse walked quickly to the door and left the room.

Serenity lay back down on her bed and sighed. She was exhausted. Sleep was now threatening to take her, but she had to wait and find out about Seto. 'I _have_ to know' she thought to herself firmly. Now it was only a matter of time until the nurse came back and she _would_ know.

A few minutes later the door opened again. It was the nurse. As Serenity watched her slowly close the door behind her, she felt her heart jump at the solemn look she saw on the nurse's face. She felt herself begin to panic as the nurse walked over to her bed and sat down on it heavily.

Serenity sat up expectantly, afraid of what she might hear, but still unable to keep herself from asking, "Well?"

The nurse took in a deep breath and looked at her. "Well," she began, "I looked up his name on the database and it said that he's in the emergency room right now." she looked down and sighed. "I called over to find out anything I could, but all they would tell me is that he is in critical condition and is currently in surgery. I'm sorry."

Serenity nodded slowly and stared out into space. "Thank you." she told the nurse, her voice emotionless. After a few minutes, the nurse got up and said, "Please, just try to get some rest and not think about it."

'Not think about it?' Serenity thought to herself, 'How can I think of anything else?' But to the nurse, she said, "Yeah. Ok." Then she thought to herself, 'Anything… just go away.'

"Alright Sweetie," the nurse said, patting Serenity's hand with her own. "I'll leave you alone so you can sleep. I'll let you know as soon as anything comes up with Mr. Kaiba. I hope your family gets here soon."

"Yeah. So do I." Serenity said absently. 'Why is she still here?' she thought.

The nurse looked at her and shook her head. She knew that this girl would find no peace in sleep. "Ok." she said softly to her, and got up and left the room.

After a while, Serenity blinked. She looked around and noticed that the nurse had left. She didn't bother to wonder when. All she could think about was Seto.

'Critical condition…surgery…' the nurse's words haunted her mind. 'What if he's dying?' Serenity thought. She closed her eyes and sank down into her bed. 'and it's all my fault.'

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Alright! There is the newest chapter! ^_^ Up and posted! Yey! I hope that every one of you enjoys it thoroughly and please, please, please, REVIEW! Yey! Thanks a lot, and look! All of you get…a Seto Kaiba designer trenchcoat! Yey! Also icecream. Lots and lots of icecream. (Yesterday was my birthday!) So please, enjoy, and R&R!

~Seren147


	6. Going Places

Ok, here I am, updating with Chapter Six! I hope that you all are having a wonderful day (or night, depends on when you read this) and ENJOY!

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**_6. Going Places_**

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Serenity awoke in the hospital room to the sound of the door opening and the rush of someone coming in. Not giving her the chance to even say 'hello', Joey ran over to the side of her bed, grabbed her hand, and started bombarding her with questions.

"Hey Sis are you ok does it hurt do you need anything what can I do, oh if I see those creeps I'm gonna kill em—"

"Joey!" said Serenity, "Calm down!" She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Joey, I'm fine."

"But Sis-" Joey said, "Your face…" He gingerly reached out his hand and touched her cheek.

"It's really not as bad as it looks…" Serenity told him, trying to smile.

"Well, they got them bastards locked up now, don't they?" Joey asked, "Cause if they don't—" he shook his fist in the air menacingly.

"Yes, Joey, they're in custody now," she answered, "and don't worry. Seto Kaiba did a very good job of beating them up for me."

"Yeah, I guess." Joey said reluctantly. He looked at Serenity out of the corner of his eye. He didn't like the way she was talking about Moneybags, but he decided to let it go. The jerk _had _risked his life to save her, after all. "So how is ol' Kaiby? He's as cold and as emotionless as a freakin robot, I'm surprised the bullet didn't bounce right off him."

"Joey!" Serenity said, anger coming into her face and voice, "Seto Kaiba saved my life! Who knows where I would be right now if it weren't for him!"

"Hey Sis, ok, I'm sorry…" Joey trailed off, not knowing the words with which to comfort her.

"You just don't understand…" she said, and then turned her eyes up to him. "I-I need to see him. I need to know how he is. Don't you understand, Joey Wheeler, that he may be dying and it is all _my_ fault!"

Joey looked down at his little sister, surprise coming into his face from the force of her words. Mentally, he kicked himself for what he had said about Seto Kaiba.

"I'm sorry Sis…" he tried, "you know that me and him have never been the best of friends…he's so…" he stopped; now wanting to upset Serenity anymore with his words. But neither did he want Seto Kaiba to be a hero in his sister's eyes when Joey knew who the _real _Seto Kaiba was. To Joey, he was anything ___but _a shiny golden hero.

"Well, Serenity, tell ya what. As soon as you get released we'll all go and see him, ok?" Joey reached down and smoothed out her hair. "Ok Sis?"

Serenity looked up at him with her big hazel eyes and nodded. The anger she had felt left her and in its place there was only exhaustion.

"I think I'm just going to go back to sleep now, ok Joey?" She smiled up at him and moved down in her bed, drawing up the blankets around her.

"Sure thing Sis." Joey leaned down and kissed her forehead. "This is all kinda familiar, huh? I mean you and the hospital and me being here."

"Yeah, it is." Serenity said, remembering how her brother had helped to give her the courage she needed to go through with her eye operation. "You helped me then, Joey, and you're still helping me now." She reached out her arm and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I love you, big brother."

"Yeah, me too Serenity…oh hold on, I've got somethin in my eye!" he turned around, rubbing his eye.

Serenity smiled at this, then asked him a question that had been bugging her. "Hey Joey, how come you were so late in getting here? And where is everybody else who was with you?"

Joey turned back around and answered, "Yeah, well, they would only let family members in so the rest of the gang is all in the waiting room." Then Joey grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Yeah…and I got three speeding tickets on my way here. I tried to explain to em how things were, but they thought I was some kind a nutjob or somethin…Imagine!"

Serenity grinned from ear to ear. "Oh yeah, Joey, I can imagine." While Joey laughed at this, Serenity felt her smile slowly fade away. 'Here I am, laughing,' she thought, 'while who knows what Seto is going through.' She immediately felt guilty and stopped the feeling of happiness that her brother was instilling in her. She looked up at her big brother and said, "Joey, I'm sorry, but I'd really like to rest now. But remember, they said that I could be released later this afternoon, so don't forget to come and pick me up, ok?"

Joey looked down at her and smiled. "Like I would ever forget." He looked around. "Alright then, I'll stop by the front desk and ask what time it will be. In the meanwhile, though, I better get Yugi and the gang back home. It may be four in the morning , but today is a school day, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Serenity said. "Well, I guess I could miss school today…" She smiled up at Joey.

"Yeah, I think ya could." Joey joked back. "Well, I'll be back later. I'll tell the guys you're alright and try to keep them from worryin. Just know that you'll be all that I'm thinkin about, ok?"

"Ok." Serenity said. "And thank you, big brother."

Joey turned to leave and called back over his shoulder, "No problem, lil' sis. Now get some rest."

"K." said Serenity as Joey closed the door behind him. She settled back into her bed and closed her eyes. Her feelings were so mixed up. She was happy about her brother and sad about Kaiba and overall thoroughly confused.

'Oh well.' she thought, hoping that her mind would clear up after she got some sleep. After only a few minutes, her breathing deepened and she slept until they woke her up to go home.

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Joey opened the door to Seto Kaiba's hospital room and walked in.

'So…' Joey thought incredulously, walking over to the side of Kaiba's bed, 'this guy actually saved my sister, huh?'

He looked down at Seto, who seemed to be sleeping. The only sound in the room besides Kaiba's breathing was the beep from the heart monitor.

'I just can't believe this.' Joey thought, 'My only enemy rescues my only sister. Geez, this is great.' Joey thought as he looked down and saw an IV needle sticking in Seto's arm.

'Great, wonder what the hell he'll want from me now…' Joey thought, imagining all kinds of torturous things that Kaiba would make him do for 'saving his sister.'

'Probably something to do with a dog costume…' Joey thought bitterly.

Lying flat on his back with his eyes closed, Seto didn't look so threatening. 'Why was I ever scared a this chump?' Joey thought, looking down at Seto in disdain. 'Damn it! Of all the people in the world, of course it had to be Seto Kaiba!'

Joey shook his head to clear his mind and then once again turned his gaze to Seto. 'Maybe he's not so bad…' thought Joey, 'I mean he did rescue my sista. And he knows I love Serenity like he loves Mokuba. I'd do anything for her.' He sighed. 'Well…maybe that bullet knocked some sense into him and he'll be a nice guy when he wakes up…'

Then Joey rolled his eyes. "Who'm I kiddin?" He said aloud. "This guy is never gonna change. And what makes it worse is that Serenity doesn't even see this and whatever I tell her she's not gonna believe…"

Joey looked down at Seto for a few minutes, then bent down low over his face. "If, when you wake up," he said to Kaiba, "you manage ta hurt her or ta make her feel bad just because she is worried about your sorry ass, then you had better watch out cause then _I'll _have ta finish the job that that bullet started."

Seto's face remained expressionless in his sleep.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Joey said to Kaiba before turning around and going to the door. Turning the knob, he looked back and said, "I'll be seein ya later, Kaiby."

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"Uhhh…" Serenity moaned, opening her eyes groggily. Someone was shaking her gently.

"Wake up, Miss. It's time to rise and shine, even though it's three in the afternoon." Serenity looked up at the person from whom the voice was coming from. It was the same woman who had brought her food during the night. "It's finally time for you to go home. They're releasing you!"

"Oh…ok." Serenity sat up in the bed and yawned. "Boy, do you work this much all the time?"

"Oh, no," the woman said, smiling at her. "Not at all. My last shift ended right after I had brought you some food. Now I'm on my new shift."

"Oh, I see." said Serenity. "Well I guess that makes sense…ummm…anyway, do you know if my brother is here yet?"

"Why yes," answered the woman. "He's out in the lobby right now signing some papers." She then handed a backpack to Serenity. "Here. He brought this for you. Thought you might need it. So why don't you get dressed and then come out there? He is very anxious to see you."

"Ok." said Serenity, opening the backpack. "Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."

"No problem. It's my job." The woman got up to leave. "Well, I hope that the rest of today goes well for you. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that last night."

"Yeah. Me too." Serenity said, then looked up and smiled. "Don't worry. I-I can't let this control my life. I have to move ahead. My brother will help me."

"Yes, I'm sure he will." The woman told her. "We could hardly keep him in the lobby to sign those papers, that's how bad he wanted to see you. He really cares a lot about you."

Serenity smiled at the woman's words. "Yeah," she said, "he's great. Well, I better get dressed then."

"Ok, Miss." the woman said. "Then I'll go tell him that you'll be out in just a few minutes."

"Great." Serenity said. "Thank you." The woman nodded and then left the room. Opening the backpack, Serenity saw that Joey had packed her a change of clothes and her toothbrush and toothpaste.

'Good job, Joey.' thought Serenity, getting up to brush her teeth. When she finished, she changed into the clothes that Joey had provided for her and then walked out the door, in search of the lobby.

"Hey Sis!" Joey yelled at her, running down the hallway. "Ya ready to go now?"

"Of course!" Serenity said back, excited to see her brother and to be able to finally leave the hospital.

"Good. Then let's—" Joey started, but was interrupted with an insistent tap on the shoulder. He turned around to face a _very_ angry old nurse.

"Excuse me young man!" the grey-haired lady exclaimed, "But what do you think this is? A schoolyard! You can't just run around and shout in here! There are sick people in here trying to get some rest you know!"

"Uhhhh…geez. Sorry Ma'am." said Joey, "I was just excited to see my sister, that's all."

"Well…that's still no excuse!" the woman fumed.

"Hey…wait a minute." Joey interrupted, "Shouldn't you not be yellin either? Remember, there are sick people in here!"

"A…a…hmmpppt!" she said, walking away quickly, muttering to herself about young people not having any manners.

Joey stared after her, then looked down at Serenity, smiling. "Ready to go home, sis? Or are you hungry? We could go get some icecream or somethin."

"Ahh, yeah, that sounds great, Joey." Serenity answered, "But…"

"But what, Serenity?" Joey asked.

"Well…I wanted to go and visit Seto Kaiba before I left…remember? I want to see how he is, how he's doing."

"Oh yeah…" Joey said. Then he sighed. "Look, sis, I went to see him and he's ok. He was just sleepin. Now, I really think it would be better if you just left him alone…"

"Joey, he got shot! I need to see him!" Serenity grasped her brother's arm. "Please, Joey. I _need_ to."

Joey looked down at Serenity and sighed disapprovingly, but then gave in. "Ok, sis. Let's go see Seto Kaiba."

Smiling, she looked up at him and grasped his hand. "Ok, Joey. Thanks."

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Ok, there was chapter six! I hope that it was good…I tried to make it the best that I could…what do you think? I've got some ideas for future chapters (Don't worry, they start getting happier!) but I welcome any suggestions or comments. Even I, right now, am like, come on, this story needs to start getting more happy…but yeah, the beginning _is _a suspense. Anyway, I really hope that everyone liked it! And, let me see what I have for the wonderful readers this time…let's see…oh! Here you go! You get a 'duel monsters card' locket (think Kaiba) and a large bag of your favorite chocolates! Yey! Now isn't that good? Well…guess that is all for now, thank you for reading my story and please continue to!

~Seren147


	7. The important things in life: Food and S...

Hello everybody! Here I am again, this time with chapter seven, and I hope that you all like it and review it. Remember, I do not own YGO or its characters.

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**_7. The Important Things in Life: Food & Sleep_**

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Seto unconsciously shifted in his bed, almost waking, but still managing to stay inside of his dream. Images passed through his mind, but one in particular kept coming up over and over. It was for this image that Seto longed to stay inside of his dream.

He saw a young girl, around sixteen or seventeen, with light auburn hair that reached almost to her waist and big hazel eyes. The way she looked at him in his dream made him feel something that was so familiar to him, and yet still so unknown. Whatever the case was, however, he didn't know. He just didn't want it to end.

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"Right this way please." a nurse said, directing Serenity and Joey down a hallway towards Kaiba's room. "I'm afraid that you can only stay for a few minutes, however. Mr. Kaiba needs his rest." She opened a door at the end of the hallway and led them inside. "I'm just going to check his vitals, but after that I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Ok." said Serenity, walking over to the side of Seto's bed. He was lying flat on his back, sleeping peacefully. There was an IV tube leading its way down into his arm and various other monitors surrounded his bed. What drew her eyes, however, lay covered with cloth and blanket. Hiding under there somewhere, she knew, was the bandage that covered his gunshot wound.

'I still don't know where it hit or what they had to do to him.' she thought. Then she brought her eyes back up to his face. His perfectly drawn, handsome face. 'Well, he looks ok,' she thought, 'whatever happened, I think he's coming out on the better end of it now.'

She wanted to turn and ask the nurse where the bullet had hit, what they had done, and how he was recovering, but seeing Seto lying there so peacefully, well, she couldn't bring herself to make any kind of noise that might disturb him.

'He doesn't look so bad.' she thought, thinking of all the horror stories that Joey had told her about Seto in the past. 'He looks very…nice.' she thought, noticing how smooth his pale complexion was and how his brown hair lie tussled on the pillow. 'He looks very nice indeed.'

"Ok," the nurse said, startling Serenity out of her thoughts, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. You can come back later if you like, when he's awake, but for now you're going to have to come with me."

Serenity looked towards the door, where Joey was standing, waiting for her. "Ok." she said, then looked back at Seto and gently touched his cheek with her hand. "Get well soon." she whispered to him, and then turned around to leave.

Walking out of Seto's hospital room, Joey placed his arm around Serenity's shoulders. "See sis? Kaiba's ok." Joey said, looking down at her. "He'll pull out of this like he does with everything else." Serenity looked up at her big brother, smiling at the fact that this was the first time she had ever heard Joey say something about Kaiba that wasn't criticizing.

"Yeah, I know." she said back to him, "He will be fine."

"That's the spirit, Serenity," Joey said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Now let's go home. I'm hungry."

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Riding home in the car, Joey became silent. Serenity stared out of the window, wondering if it were better to break the awkward silence of the car or to leave Joey to whatever thoughts he was having.

Serenity decided to break it and was just about to open her mouth and comment on the weather when Joey beat her to it.

"Look, Serenity," Joey started, "I think we may be in trouble."

Serenity looked over at Joey, and then asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Joey continued, "when I was signing those papers back there, well…one of them was the bill. Put that together with those three speeding tickets I got and we have trouble."

"Oh." Said Serenity. She hadn't even thought of the bill. She looked over at her brother, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"Damn it, Serenity!" he said, anger in his voice, "I'm tired of being so poor! It's just not fair! And what makes it worse is seeing that bastard Kaiba laying in there, not having to worry 'bout none of it while we've got all these troubles out here! Damn it!" he said again, pounding his fist on the wheel.

"I-I'm sorry, Joey." Serenity said quietly to him. She looked down at her hands. Now her brother was mad because of her and the earlier hope she had of him actually liking Kaiba was shattered. "You know that I…I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

Joey sighed deeply, and then looked over at her. "I know sis. It's ok. I _know_ that none of it was your fault…or Kaiba's fault. I'm just frustrated, that's all. It seems lately that the only thing we actually have is each other."

Serenity smiled at him, trying to bring him some tiny bit of comfort. "That's enough for me, Joey," she told him. "We'll get through this somehow, don't worry. We _always_ do."

Joey looked over at her skeptically and smiled. "Yeah," he said, "you're right. I'm sorry for acting like such a jackass there. We'll be just fine."

They pulled up in front of the small apartment they shared and Serenity sighed. With them already scraping by with just paying the rent, she didn't know how they were going to afford this.

"Maybe I should start looking for a job, Joey." she said, before they got out of the car.

Joey turned off the ignition and sighed. "I don't want you to do that, Serenity. I'm your big brother and I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you."

"You do take care of me, Joey," Serenity countered, "But it's time that I start helping out too." She looked at her big brother, then said, "You can't do this alone."

"No," he said quietly, after a few minutes, "I guess I can't."

"Besides," she continued, "we're a team, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're a team." Joey said, knowing where she was going with that. He finally gave up and said, "Fine. You can get a job. But if it gets too much for you I want you to tell me right away, ok Sis?"

"Yeah, sure thing Joey." she answered, opening the car door and quickly getting out before he could change his mind. She breathed in the crisp air and looked around. Street lamps were already coming on and darkness was beginning to make its way into the town of Domino.

"Hey Serenity," Joey called out to her from the other side of the car, "Are you gonna be alright? I mean what you went through and all…"

"Hey Joey, its ok." she said, looking over at him. "I-I can't dwell on it. I…I have to move on with my life. Be normal. I have to, because I'm afraid that if I stop and think about what happened for even a minute…I…I don't know what would happen. All I know is that I am afraid to do it. Do you understand, Joey?"

Joey looked over at her for a minute and then moved around the car to give her a hug. "Of course I understand, Serenity. It's just like how I felt after Dad used to hit me when he drank too much…eventually you get over it, but deep down inside, it never really goes away. It's scary, sis, but I'm here for you, and I promise to keep all the boogymen away, ok?"

Serenity looked up at her big brother and nodded. "Ok Joey. Now let's go inside and I'll make you some dinner."

"Now that's what I wanna hear!" he said, laughing. They turned and walked in the house together, forgetting their own personal troubles for the moment.

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Sitting around their kitchen table, finally pausing from stuffing his mouth full of noodles, Joey said to Serenity, "Well, now that ya know Kaiba's ok, guess everything's back to normal, eh sis?"

"Yeah…I guess so…" Serenity said, trailing off.

"Well what's a matta sis? You saw for yourself, he's doin fine. He was sleepin."

"Yeah, I know Joey." she answered. "It's just…I don't know…I feel like I should be there with him or something. I think he needs me."

"Kaiba!" Joey snorted. "Yeah right. Kaiba doesn't need anyone. I'm tellin ya sis, he's fine so just leave that guy alone. He's nothin but trouble. Heck, savin you was probably the first good deed he's ever done in his life." Joey shook his head. "I still don't know what possessed him to do it…I guess even the great, cold Seto Kaiba has a heart…"

Then he snapped out of it and looked at Serenity. She had barely touched her food and he had the feeling that Kaiba was behind it. "Look, Serenity, you can't be worrying over that moneybags. He'll be fine." He motioned to her plate. "Now eat some food sis."

Serenity took a small bite of noodles and then pushed her plate back. "I'm not really that hungry, Joey. I think I'll just go to bed early, k?"

Joey frowned, but then said, "Alright Sis. You do need to get some rest."

He watched her put her dish on the counter and then start walking back to her room.

"Good night, Joey." she called back to him.

"Goodnight, sis." he said back to her, quietly. He sat there for a few minutes, staring at his plate, then got up and put his dish with hers. He knew that Kaiba was on her mind, but what could he really do about it?

'Oh well.' he thought, hoping that she would snap out of it soon. Then his thoughts got back to what was _really _important. 'Now it's time for some video games!' he thought, running off into the living room and turning on the TV.

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Serenity looked at the clock. It was hours after she and Joey had finished eating dinner and she was still awake.

She had told Joey that she wanted to get some rest so that he would get off her back about Kaiba. She knew that he meant well, but he still didn't understand.

She glanced up at the clock again. 12:02 am. 'I wonder if Joey is still awake…' she thought, and got up out of her bed. She felt that if she had to remain still any longer she would scream. She was wide awake and felt like she had to do _something_.

She peeked out of her door and looked into the front room. Joey was snoring loudly on the couch, a game controller still in one hand and a bag of chips open beside him.

She quietly crept out to where he was and looked at him. He was out cold. After turning off the TV and placing a blanket over him, she stood by the couch with her hands on her hips, wondering what to do next.

'I can't just stay here in bed.' she thought. 'If I think anymore of these thoughts I'm going to go insane!'

She looked around the room and then noticed that Joey's car keys were lying on the coffee table.

'Maybe I'll just go for a little drive…' she thought, picking up his keys. She knew that Joey would be really upset with her if he found out that she had gone out driving during the night, but she didn't plan on him ever finding out.

'I'll just drive around until I get a little sleepy…' she thought, and then went to get her coat.

Slipping out of the front door quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Joey, Serenity quickly closed the door behind her and sighed. Taking in a deep breath, she made her way down to where the car was parked. After getting in and starting the ignition, she turned on the heater to chase away the night's cold chill and smiled. It felt good to be out on her own at night and yet still feel safe.

For a while she drove around aimlessly with no destination in mind, but soon found herself in front of the hospital. In her heart she knew that she would have ended up here sooner or later that night, so she wasn't exactly surprised when she pulled into the parking lot.

Getting out of the car, she wondered what time visiting hours were over. Remembering back to when she had been in the hospital, she was pretty sure that they didn't let in visitors at this time of night.

'Oh well,' she thought, 'then that just means that I can't go in as a "visitor".' Walking over to the back of the car and opening the trunk, she pulled a clipboard out of her backpack and made her way to the hospital's entrance. Hoping that they would think she was there on "business", she proceeded inside like she belonged there and made her way to the elevator. The receptionist gave her a strange look when she passed by, but didn't say anything. The rest of the place was deserted.

Once inside of the elevator, she pushed the button to go up and felt her stomach flutter. It was almost midnight and here she was, trying to sneak into someone's room. Not just anyone's room either. Kaiba's room.

**_Bing!_** The door opened for her and she stepped out and quietly looked around. There was a desk to her left that a woman was working quietly at and there was a hallway to her right. Seto's room was just down that hallway.

"Excuse me, Miss, but visiting hours are over." the woman told her.

"Ummm…I'm not here to visit, Ma'am. I'm just…writing a report for school, and…thought I'd walk around to get a feel of the, um, hospital." Serenity smiled, hoping that the woman believed her while mentally cursing herself for not preparing a good story ahead of time. She hated to lie to this woman, but she didn't know what else to do. So she just smiled.

"You really shouldn't be out by yourself this late, Miss." The woman said, with concern on her face. "Can't this report wait until tomorrow?"

"Oh, it's due tomorrow!" Serenity said, surprising herself with her quick thinking. "I was sick the past few days and couldn't come in until now. And I have someone waiting for me in the lobby, so I'll be ok." She tried to smile reassuringly.

"Oh," said the woman, "Well, I'm still sorry Miss, but this ward is for those that have just come out of surgery. I'm afraid that you're going to have to go to a different floor."

"Oh…ok…umm, sorry." Serenity told her.

"It's ok." the woman replied. "Anyway, good luck on your report."

"Huh?" Serenity said, forgetting for a moment what her alibi was. "Oh, yeah. Well, thanks."

The woman nodded and Serenity turned around and pressed the button for the elevator. While she was waiting, the woman got up and went into a room close by her desk. Trying to see into it from where she was standing, Serenity noticed that it was a small break room. The woman had her back to Serenity and was placing change into a soda machine.

Just then, the elevator door opened, causing Serenity to jump. Looking back quickly at the woman instead of getting in, Serenity instead started walking down the hall towards Kaiba's room.

Quickly shutting the door behind her after entering his room, she waited silently for a few minutes to make sure no one had followed her.

After nobody came, she turned and went to Seto's bed. He was as she had remembered him, sleeping peacefully.

Dragging a chair up beside his bed, she sat down and looked at him. He had a slight smile on his face and was turned towards her. After staring at him for a few minutes, she gently took his hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. He stirred slightly, and she started, ready to let go, but then relaxed when he didn't wake up. "Don't worry…" she whispered softly to him, "Sleep now. I'm here for you."

She watched him sleep for a while, holding onto his hand, and then felt herself starting to get drowsy. She scooted closer to him and lay her head down in the crook of her arm, resting on his bed.

Staring up at him, still holding his hand, she felt her eyes begin to get heavy and finally closed. Before she knew what was happening, she was sound asleep.

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Opening his eyes, Seto looked up into the darkness of his room. All was quiet and he lay still, thinking about what had happened to him in the past 24 hours and of the dreams that he had had.

'That girl…' he thought, 'she was the same one that I saved…I wonder where she is? How she is? What is her name? I know her from somewhere…from…from school! That's it! We go to the same school!' He sighed, and then rolled his eyes. 'Well…whatever.' he thought. 'I shouldn't be thinking about some dumb girl. I should be with Mokuba…and dealing with KaibaCorp…and...everything else…' he frowned and then tried to raise his hands up to rub his eyes, but something was holding on tightly to his left hand.

'What the hell…?' he thought, looking down. His eyes went wide as he saw, in the moonlight coming from his nearby window, his dream girl.

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Well, that was the end of chapter seven! How did you all like it? Good? Well I hope so. Just wanted to say thank you for reading my story (and hopefully reviewing it too!) And this time I have lots and lots o soda for ya to drink…and let's see what else I can dig up…oh yes! Lookie here…a BEWD plushie…along with some BEWD pajamas…oh wait! Could those be Seto Kaiba's very own PJ's? O.o (I better run before he catches me!...on second thought, maybe I _want _him to catch me…heehee…ah decisions, decisions…) Anyway, hope you like my presents today, thanks everyone and have a nice day!

~Seren147


	8. Encounters with the Strange

Hello everyone! Well finally I have chapter 8 up…sorry it took so long but it took me forever to type it up…I was really busy. But to make up for it, this chapter is the longest one that I have written so far! Yey! Well, guess I better shut up already and let you guys get to reading…

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**_8. Encounters with the Strange_**

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Just having woken up and finding himself on the couch, Joey stretched his arms out wide and gave a huge groan. They he yelled as he opened his eyes to the glaring sunlight that was shining right in his face.

Blinking in an attempt to bring back his vision, he got up and quickly went to close the curtain where the bright light was streaming through.

"Geez, what time is it?" Joey asked, yawning and looking around at the clock. "10:42!" he screamed loudly. "Serenity! Why didn't you wake me up! Now we're both late for school!"

Joey stood up and rubbed his eyes, waiting for her to answer. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'she probably needed the rest. I know _I_ did."

"Serenity!" he called again, then went to the door of her room. Knocking, he called out to her, "Serenity, are you awake?"

When no answer came, he slowly eased open the door. "Serenity?"

Stepping in, he quickly looked around and saw that she was not in the room. Frowning, he left her room and quickly searched through the rest of their small apartment.

'Geez Serenity,' he thought, going through each room, 'Where'd ya run off ta?'

After he was sure that she wasn't in the apartment, he opened the front door, looking out to the parking lot and trying to ignore the nervousness that was beginning to make his stomach crawl.

When he noticed that his car was missing, he frowned in disapprovement but also gave a small sigh of relief.

"Well this is jus' great of her." he muttered to himself, thinking that Serenity had already left for school without him. "Not only did she not wake me up, but she didn't even wait for me either!"

Annoyed at why she would do this, he quickly got his stuff together and proceeded to then run to school.

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"Hmmmm…?" Serenity murmured dreamily, raising her head off of her arm. She blinked a few times and then stretched, having just woken up.

"Oh…I'm sorry," came a young voice from the other side of the bed, "I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just changing Mr. Kaiba's IV."

Serenity looked over and saw the pretty blond-haired nurse who the voice belonged to. "Oh, it's ok." Serenity told her, and then looked down at the bed covers. "And…hey…thanks for not ratting me out."

"Oh, it's no problem." the nurse assured her. "I understand how it can be. My mother was in surgery not too long ago and I thought I would go crazy because they wouldn't let me in to see her." She smiled at Serenity and then winked. "Besides," she continued, "all the hard-ass nurses are gone right now. So don't worry about it."

Serenity smiled at her in response and then looked down at Seto, who was still sleeping. "How's he doing?" she asked the nurse.

"Well, he seems to be coming along just fine." the nurse said in reply. "They should be moving him to a different ward soon."

"Well that's good." Serenity answered. "I'm glad that he's doing much better." Then she looked back down at Seto. "Boy, he sure does sleep an awful lot." she commented.

"Oh, well that's because the doctor ordered that a mild sedative be placed in through his intravenous line." the nurse told her, looking down at Seto. "I'm not sure what he went through, but I guess he needs a lot of rest to recover."

"Yeah…" replied Serenity, looking down to where she still grasped Seto's hand. Then she looked closer. Before she had fallen asleep, she remembered taking his limp hand in hers. But now, after she had woken up, she found that his hand now grasped her own with as much force as she held his.

'Must have done it in his sleep…' she thought absently, and then looked up at the clock. "Oh no! I'm going to be late for school!" she exclaimed, letting go of Seto's hand and quickly standing up.

"Well, then I guess you better get going then." the nurse commented. "When you come back though, I'd suggest that you ask the front lobby what room he is in. His chart says that he is to be moved out of the ER ward today."

"Oh, ok then," said Serenity, grabbing her stuff off of the floor. "Thank you."

"Sure, no problem," said the nurse. "Gee, I hope you don't mind me saying this…but you sure have a cute boyfriend."

Serenity looked up at her, startled, and then slowly smiled. "Oh…he's…he's not…," she looked down at Seto, and then continued, "Yeah…he's not, not that bad looking, is he?" She reached down and ran her hand through his thick brown hair. He didn't even stir.

"You must hear this all the time," the nurse went on, "but you're one lucky girl."

Serenity looked up quickly at her, her face blushing with embarrassment over what she had just made the nurse think. 'What did I do?' she thought, 'This nurse thinks he's my boyfriend!...Oh well…there's no harm in playing along, I guess.' She looked back down at Seto. 'It's not like _he'll_ ever find out.'

"Oh…ummm…yeah, anyway," Serenity said quickly to cover up the embarrassing silence, "do you think he'll be awake when I come back after school today?"

"Yeah," answered the nurse, "He should be. I mean, he can't sleep _every_ moment of the day, now can he?" She smiled at Serenity. "Anyway, all he got was a mild sedative to help him sleep through the initial pain. In a few hours, he should be fine and back to his normal self."

"Ok, great." Serenity said, and then wondered if she really wanted to see Kaiba while he was awake and "back to his normal self". What if he blamed her for everything? And then there were all the bad things that Joey had said about Kaiba…what if he really was like that? She frowned at this thought and then turned to leave. "Well, thanks anyway." she said to the nurse.

"Un-huh." the nurse said in reply as Serenity hurried out of the room. Glancing at her watch, Serenity figured that she had just enough time to make it to school by fourth period.

Rushing out of the hospital's entrance, Serenity suddenly stopped short. "Joey!" she cried breathlessly, suddenly seeing that she still had his car and that it was _way_ past time for them to be getting to school and that he would have missed her by now. 'Oh no! I've been at the hospital all night…' she thought, 'what will I tell Joey?'

Her mind spinning with what she was going to say to her brother, she reached the parking lot and then went to Joey's car. 'Well…I could go home…' she thought, 'who knows, Joey may still be sleeping…it's likely…or…maybe I should just go to school, and when I see Joey just tell that I left for school early…or something…and just didn't want to wake him…'

Standing with the car door open, she frowned. She didn't like the thought of lying to her brother, but what else could she do? He would flip if he knew that she went out in the middle of the night to visit, of all people, Seto Kaiba. Still frowning, she finally got into the car and started the engine.

On her way driving from the hospital to her school, she encountered heavy traffic. 'Great.' she thought, 'Now I'll never make it to school in time for fourth period.' She sighed, but finally reached Domino High. Arriving in the _middle_ of fourth period, she quickly hurried down the hallway to reach her biology class.

Opening the door of the classroom only to see a dozen heads turn in her direction, she felt herself blush and simply stood there in embarrassment.

"Miss Wheeler, I see you've finally made it to class." said Sakamutou-Sensei, stopping her lesson to speak to Serenity.

"Umm…s-sorry, Sensei," Serenity responded, hating to be the center of attention. "I-I woke up late."

"Well, see to it that it doesn't happen again, Serenity, or I'll be forced to give you detention."

"Y-yes, Sensei." Serenity stuttered, then made her way to her seat. As the class began to go back to its lesson, Serenity let out a sigh of relief. 'I sure hope the rest of the day goes smoother then it's been so far.' she thought.

As the lesson droned on about protozoa and their origins, Serenity turned her gaze to the window. It was a clear day and the sun was shining, although she knew that the wind was brisk outside. Soon her mind began to wander and her thoughts turned towards the well known yet still mysterious Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba was…interesting…to her. 'I wonder what he's doing right now…' she thought, 'Ha. Probably sleeping…' A smile made its way across Serenity's face as she thought about the sleeping Seto. 'He looked so…so innocent there…so peaceful. Why can't Joey see this side of him? He always was one sided…' She trailed off in her thoughts, a dreamy look on her face. 'Well I hope that Seto isn't in too much pain when he wakes up…I'll have to go and visit with him again today. See how he is.' She sighed happily, but then her smile faded as she thought about what would happen if _he_ didn't want to see _her_.

'_Does_ he want to see me?' she thought, worry creeping onto her face. 'I mean, I _was_ the reason why he got shot…' she shook her head to clear the thoughts. 'Still…I would like to see how he is feeling…Maybe I can just…keep him company. I don't think he has many friends…'

Serenity was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by someone who had appeared in front of her desk. Sakamutou-Sensei. "Serenity." she said.

Serenity looked up, and then replied, "Ahh…Y-yes, Sensei?"

Sakamutou-Sensei stared down sternly at her. "I'm glad that you find our homework assignment so thought-provoking."

"Ummm…what do you mean, Sensei?" Serenity asked, confused as to what she was talking about.

"Well, it seemed like you were in deep thought there after I assigned the homework to the class. So, if that's the case,…care to share what you were thinking about?"

Staring up at Sakamutou-Sensei, Serenity could feel the heat rising up to her cheeks. Why was Sensei picking on her today? "Ummm…well…no, Sensei." she finally answered, "Sorry. I was…focused on other things…I'm sorry." She looked down, staring into her hands and wishing that Sensei would just go away already.

"It's alright Serenity," Sensei said, sighing in exasperation, "just…try to pay attention more next time you walk in late, ok?"

"Yes, Sensei." Serenity answered quickly, wondering when the bell would ring so she could finally get out of biology. For not even being there the whole period, the class was sure lasting a long time. As Sakamutou-Sensei walked away, Serenity quickly wrote down the homework assignment and then gathered up her stuff. 'Darn it…so much homework…' she thought, thinking about the three days that she was already behind on, 'I wonder what Seto is doing about his homework…Hey! Maybe I should pick up his homework for him!' Serenity smiled to herself triumphantly. 'Yes! That's a great idea! Then I have an excuse to go and see him…I hope he's not mad…'

Just then the bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Slinging her backpack onto her shoulder and gathering up her books, Serenity took a deep breath and prepared herself to go and ask for the great Seto Kaiba's homework.

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After the lunch bell had rung, Joey made his way into the crowded cafeteria. Students were milling around everywhere and he had a hard time getting through the crowd. He had reached school just as fourth period was ending and was still out of breath from running the whole way.

Joey finally stopped at roughly the center of the cafeteria and looked around, trying to locate a short girl with long auburn hair. 'Geez,' he thought, 'with all these people in here, I'm never gonna find her!'

He was just about to call it quits after having no luck in finding his sister when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

Turning around in surprise and half-expecting to see his hazel-eyed sibling, he instead found himself staring into the face of a beautiful blond with violet eyes.

"Hey Joey, what's up?" she asked, as she placed her hands on her slim hips. She was wearing a tight white bodice with a matching purple miniskirt and long-sleeve jacket. Her long blond hair flowed down her back as she looked at him coyly and said in a teasing tone, "And what are you doing standing in the middle of the road? Don't you know that there are people trying to get by here?"

Joey looked at her and grinned. "Hey Mai," he said, "well, not that it's any o' your business anyway, but I jus' happen to be lookin for Serenity. I need to talk with her."

"Joseph Wheeler!" Mai exclaimed, "You are the rudest person that I have ever met! I'm only gonna tell you this cause I happen to like Serenity…" Mai paused to cross her arms and then continued, "But if it were up to me, I'd take it to my grave!"

"Come on, Mai, are you goin' anywhere with this?" Joey interrupted, knowing the game that they played back and forth. Although he would never admit it, he had quite the thing for Mai…and yet whenever she came around all he could do was act like a five year old and annoy her. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'She knows the drill.' He looked over at Mai and then crossed _his_ arms. "Come on Mai, spit it out already!"

"Hmmpt." she answered in reply, "Fine." Then under her breath, she muttered "Jackass."

"What was that?" Joey exclaimed, staring hard at Mai.

Mai just looked at him and then rolled her eyes. "I called you a jackass, you dimwit."

As Joey opened his mouth to say something in reply, she raised her hand to silence him and then quickly said, "But before you go off on me, you're a cute jackass." She winked at him and then touched his nose with her fingertip.

Blushing furiously, Joey tried to come up with a quick comeback. "Oh-Oh yeah?" he told her, failing miserably at the attempt.

"Yeah…" Mai answered. "But anyway…what I've been _trying_ to tell you is that I just saw Serenity and _she_ asked me if I had seen _you_."

"Oh, really?" Joey said, trying to look over Mai's shoulder in an attempt to spot his sister. "Well then, where'd she go?"

"I'm not her keeper, Joseph Wheeler, so how should I know?" Mai replied sarcastically, looking at Joey. With his chocolate brown eyes staring over her shoulder, she took the opportunity to check him out. Not that she would ever tell him, but the way that he kept his messy blond hair and the way that those clothes looked on him…well, let's just say that Joey Wheeler could get Mai excited _very_ easily…which is why she always tried to cover it up by yelling at him. Joey was one heck of a—

"Hey Mai," Joey said suddenly, breaking her thoughts and causing her to look up at him in surprise, "If you ain't gonna help me out here then why don't ya get outta the way already? I need to find Serenity."

"Fine, ya big oaf," said Mai, "but if I were you I would hurry cause the last place I saw her heading was to the library." She shook her head. "But why she'd look for you there is beyond me."

"Yeah? Whatever." Said Joey, walking around Mai. As he was leaving he called back over his shoulder to her. "Hey Mai! Thanks."

Looking after him, Mai smiled and then said quietly, "No problem, ya big lovable jerk."

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While Joey and Mai were having their back-and-forth lover's quarrel, Serenity was walking into the school library. She stopped just inside of the entrance and took a look around. 'Now what section would it be in…?' she thought, her eyes roaming over all of the shelves of books in front of her.

She had come here after briefly looking but not finding Joey in the lunchroom. She figured that he still had not woken up and was still at home, snoring away. Satisfied with this explanation, she quickly had given up her search for Joey and instead went on a search for Seto's homework.

After learning that he had a research paper on the Cold War to write for his history honors class, she had decided to stop by the library and pick him up the materials he would need.

"Let's see…Red Scare…Vietnam…ah, here we go. Cold War Tactics:1955-1960." She looked down at the scrap of paper she held to make sure the year that his history teacher had given her matched this book. "Yeah, 1958. Got it." Taking the book down from the shelf, she turned it over and started reading the summary on the back.

'Hmmm…' she thought to herself, 'Looks kind of interesting…for a history book that is.' Suddenly she jumped as she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder. Startled, she quickly turned around.

"Hey sis! Here ya are!" It was Joey. Serenity smiled and let out a small sigh of relief as Joey continued. "Geez, where ya been? I woke up an you were gone. Ya had me worried…" he looked down at her and frowned. "So where were ya, Serenity? This ain't like you."

"Heehee…yeah…" Serenity replied, trying to think up a quick cover story, "Well…umm…I saw you sleeping there, you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you up…I don't know what I was thinking Joey…leaving you there like that while I took the car and went to school…I'm sorry." She looked up at him with the biggest and most innocent eyes she could muster and smiled halfway. 'Well…' she thought, '_technically_ I'm not lying…I just left out most of the stuff in between…'

"Well…" said Joey, squinting his eyes at her, "I guess so…" Then his face broke out in a wide smile. "At least I got out of most of my classes today!" Having chalked up her weird behavior to the episode she had recently gone through, he decided instead to forget it and look at the bright side.

"So whatcha lookin at, anyway?" he asked her, taking the book out of her hand. "The Cold War?"

"Uhhh…yeah…" Serenity answered slowly. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Ummm…Joey?" she asked, looking up at her big brother, "I'm not going to be able to come home until late tonight, so do you think you can manage to make dinner for yourself? I'm sorry, but I've got this project to do with a friend," she motioned towards the book he was holding, "and I'm not sure when we'll be done, so it will _probably_ be rather late when I return…"

"Oh, I gotcha Sis. No problem." He looked at her and winked. "Besides…I _do_ know how to call the pizza man ya know!" He laughed and handed her back the book. "So what's the topic o' ya project anyhow? Maybe your ol' brother here can give ya a few pointers." He grinned and pointed at himself.

Looking down at the book, she answered, "Oh, you know, just stuff on the Cold War. Nothing too exciting, but it's one of those things that has to be done."

Joey nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. Now you've gone an' reminded me that I've got an english presentation due on Friday. An' lucky me, guess who's _my_ partner…"

"Who's that, Joey?" Serenity asked, grateful that his thoughts had run off on a different tangent and off of her.

"Mai." he answered, "Of all the people in that class, of course I got stuck wit' Mai."

"Joey, she's really not that bad." Serenity told him. "I actually really like her a lot. Her attitude is so…refreshing sometimes. There aren't a lot of people out there in the world who will tell you like it is…maybe that's what I like about Mai so much. She's honest."

"Yeah, honest maybe…" replied Joey, reluctantly. "But she's also mean." Serenity gave him a look and he smiled and finally gave in. "Fine. I guess when she's not calling me names and not acting all stuck-up, well, then I guess that I like her." Seeing Serenity's smirk, he quickly covered it up by saying, "But since she acts that way all the time, guess there ain't no time that I like her! Hahahaha!"

Serenity rolled her eyes while Joey continued laughing at his own joke. "Whatever Joey." she told him. "Don't admit it. But deep down inside, you know you like her."

Joey looked over at her mischievously and then said, "Yeah, well I can agree with that, but it's buried so far deep down inside of me that, thank God, I'll never be able to find it!"

Laughing his head off again while Serenity let out an exasperated sigh, she finally said, "Well Joey, I know you're on a roll here with all these jokes, but I really must be going now. I've got to go pick up a few more things for my project tonight."

Leaving Joey standing there, still giggling to himself, she walked away and then called out to him, "I'll see you later, big bro!"

"Haha…ok Serenity." Joey answered. "See ya later tonight."

Walking out of the school library after having checked out the book, Serenity once again resumed her search for Seto's homework. Smiling at how her brother was denying his feelings for Mai, Serenity shook her head and thought, '_Boys_.'

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Alright! Well there is the end of chapter eight…I hope you all liked it! I welcome all reviews…good ones, praises, critiques, whatever! Just tell me what you thought! Remember, the more reviews the more I update! Yey! ^_^ Although of course I like writing this story so much that I'm gonna update anyway…heehee oh well. Well, thank you in advance if you review. Now let me see….what do I have to give away this time? Hmmm….~looks around, digs in trunk, ruffles through papers~ Well, I don't think I really have anything…oh wait! What's this? ~pulls key out of pocket~ Heehee, could it be? ~smiles and brings hand to mouth~ how did _this_ get in _my_ pocket? Let's see, the key has a KC etched on it…hmmm…~goes to Seto's mansion and tries it in the front door~ _click!_ Well, it appears that I have the key to Seto's house…~goes to locksmith and gets it duplicated many times~ Ok my readers! You all now have keys to Seto's very own house! Hahahaha! Have fun! Oh, and here is a BEWD-shaped cake that you can eat…heehee…Oh boy is he going to be mad at me….~starts running now~

~Seren147


	9. First Impressions last the Longest

Ok my readers, here is chapter nine of the 'The Meaning of Life'. Hope that you guys didn't mind the wait _too_ much…schoolwork has a way of keeping one busy (curse school and all it's work!) so…my apologies for not getting this chapter posted faster…meanwhile, thanks for all the reviews! Woo-hoo, chapter eight put me at now over 100 reviews! This makes me VERY happy and I would like to thank you all very much! You guys are the best! Before I forget, I do not own YGO.

Ok…now on to chapter nine!

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**_9. First Impressions Last the Longest_**

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'Ok Serenity, come on, there's nothing to be nervous about, you can do this…' Although she still felt as nervous as ever, that's what Serenity kept repeating to herself as she walked ever closer to the ominous hospital entrance that loomed before her. Ever since school had let out she had been giving herself these pep talks, trying to encourage herself for when she would actually see Kaiba awake. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside of the hospital and made her way to the front desk.

"Excuse me, but you could please tell me what room Seto Kaiba is in?" Standing in the main lobby, Serenity shivered despite the fact that it was actually quite warm. 'Why am I so nervous?' she thought to herself.

"Umm…let me check…" replied the red haired woman, her dark blue eyes trained on the computer screen. "Oh yes," she told Serenity, "Mr. Kaiba is now in room 225, which is in the west wing." She pointed towards a hallway. "Just take the elevator on up."

"Thank you." Serenity replied, smiling, and proceeded to make her way towards where the woman had pointed. 'Room 225' she repeated to herself so she would not forget as she pressed the button for the elevator. Once inside, she felt her stomach start to twirl and tried to take a deep breath until the elevator once again released her.

Getting off of the elevator and onto the second floor, she made her way down the hallway until she found Seto's room. Knocking on the door lightly, she waited patiently until she heard someone call out gruffly, "What is it?"

Opening the door slowly and peeking in, Serenity saw that Kaiba was sitting up in his bed, a book in his hand. His hair was disheveled and his clothes wrinkled, but his piercing blue eyes looked alive and alert. Those eyes told her that the real Seto Kaiba was very active within, despite his being restrained to the bed for the time being.

"Umm…hello, K-Kaiba." Serenity tried, feeling herself grow nervous with every word that made its way past her lips. "I-I brought y-your schoolwork for you…I-I though you m-might want it…"

"Yeah?" he answered, and then pointed to a stack of papers on a nearby table, "and so did a lot of other girls."

Serenity felt her face redden in embarrassment, then stammered, "O-Oh, I-I'm sorry…I-I didn't k-know."

Bowing her head down, she still nonetheless caught his gaze as he looked at her. For an instant his expression seemed to soften. "So…how are you?" he asked, hesitantly.

She looked up from where she had had her head down and answered, "Well…I-I'm just fine…" she paused and then smiled at him. "Thanks to you."

Seto looked startled, but then quickly cooled his gaze and shifted his eyes to the papers she was holding. "Here…" he told her, "Let me see what you brought."

"Oh…ok." Serenity said, moving over to his bedside. Noting the way he grimaced when she handed him the books and papers, she asked, "So, how are _you_ feeling? When I first came here, they told me that you had just gotten out of surgery…" She pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down. "I've been visiting you but so far you've been asleep every time that I've come."

"Yeah," he replied absently, "They gave me a bunch of drugs for the pain. Like I couldn't handle it." Looking through the stuff that she had brought, he quickly dropped it onto an empty nightstand next to him and then leaned back against his raised bed, his eyes closed.

"I-I'm sorry," Serenity told him, desperate to be out with it. "I mean, I k-know that i-it was my fault and e-everything…I-I'm really s-sorry…"

Seto opened his eyes and looked at her. "Hey. It's ok. If I didn't want something like this to happen then I wouldn't have been there in the first place."

"You…you wanted something like this to happen?" She asked him, her eyes wide.

Looking at her blankly for a few moments, he finally opened his mouth and said, "No."

Serenity smiled in relief at him. "Good. I…I just wanted you to k-know how sorry I am…"

"Yes, I know." he interrupted. "You've made yourself quite clear on that aspect. Now is there anything else you want or are you quite done for the night?"

Taken aback by his remark, Serenity paused. "Well…no…I just thought…"

"Just thought what?" he said, again interrupting her, "Just thought you could come in here and apologize and that would make everything all better? Listen, I've already heard what you have to say and I told you that I don't blame you. Don't feel like you have to hang around here just because you've got a guilty conscience."

'Guilty conscience?' Serenity thought, 'Is that what he thinks I'm here for? To clear my conscience?' She stared at him, mouth slightly open. Then she shook her head and placed her hand on his arm.

"Look, Seto, I'm not here to sputter out apologies. I came because I care about you. I want to know how you're feeling." Her warm hazel eyes stared into his icy blue ones. "I came because I'm your friend."

At her remark, Seto's eyes widened. 'My friend?' he thought, 'this girl! But…why? She doesn't even know me really…probably just knows that I'm rich and…and she called me Seto…no one is allowed to do that but Mokuba…' his thoughts trailed off as he thought of the dreams he had had of her and of waking in the middle of the night and finding her there with him. 'Maybe…she is different…' he thought.

When Seto didn't reply to her comment, Serenity felt heat start to travel up her cheeks. Had she said something wrong? Why was he staring at her like that? Moving her hand off of his arm, she decided to change the subject.

"So…if you don't mind me asking…" she paused, not sure as how to bring up the subject of his wound. She was dying of curiosity, but…how could she put it gently?

"What, do you want to know about this?" His statement startled her out of her thoughts as she watched him pull up his shirt to show her a place on his right side that was covered with gauze. She nodded, and he continued. "Well…they only did surgery to go in and remove fragments of the bullet that were lodged in there…it's really not that bad. The bullet, when it entered, hit my bottom right rib. The rib is shattered now, of course, but a few inches up or down and that bullet would have pierced a vital organ…guess I'm really lucky…" He smirked. "They said I could be out of this hellhole within a week…but I plan to make it my business to get out of here in less time then that."

Serenity gasped slightly, and then looked up at him. "But…but don't they need to…"

"Those imbeciles can't keep me in here. The wound is stapled closed; I'm doing fine, what more do they want? They expect me to lie in here and do nothing? I've got a company to run. I can't just be sitting here twiddling my thumbs all day."

"But…but you need rest to recover…" Serenity told him.

"Recover? People get cracked ribs all the time." He pulled his shirt down. "It's nothing."

"If you say so…" Serenity said quietly, remembering how he had grimaced earlier. "Well, I'm glad that it's nothing really serious…I called the police as soon as I could…"

She looked at him and then stopped, not wanting him to think she was here out of a guilty conscience again.

"So…what are you going to do now?" She asked him.

He sighed, and then rolled his eyes. "There's nothing to do around here. This place is unbelievably boring. They took away my laptop after I was working on it for only a few hours this morning…damn it, they'll pay for that…"

"Why'd they take it away?" Serenity asked him, in hopes of encouraging him to talk more openly to her. She wanted to prove that she wasn't here out of guilt…she really did care about what happened to him.

"They said that I needed to rest…what a filthy excuse! I don't need to rest! I'm just fine! Who knows where my laptop is now?" He frowned in anger. "It's probably been stolen by now…you can't trust anyone anymore…"

Trying to think of something that would calm him down, Serenity thought back to what she usually said to Joey when he was in this predicament.

"Ummm…hey, are you hungry? I could go down and get you a snack or something…"

"The food they serve here is trash." He pointed to an untouched lunch tray on the other side of the room. "They should throw it all out. It's not fit for a dog."

"Oh…" Serenity responded, trying to think fast. Before she could offer out a new idea, however, the door to Seto's room slammed open, the noise resounding throughout the room.

"Nii-Sama!" someone from the doorway cried. "You're finally awake!"

"Mokuba!" Seto said, as the younger boy flew into his arms. Over his little brother's shoulder, Seto's face showed both pain and joy for Mokuba's enthused action. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, big brother." Mokuba told him. Letting go of Seto, he stood facing the bed. His shaggy black hair hung down past his shoulders and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "How are you?"

Seto smiled at him and then replied, "Well…I've been better…but good. I'm to be released in a few days."

"Good." Mokuba responded, taking a few steps back from the bed. "The mansion feels so empty without you. And boring."

Kaiba smiled again at his little brother, but also felt a pang of guilt. He knew that his younger brother adored him, but he also knew that he couldn't fool Mokuba _that_ much. Seto was never around often enough to actually keep Mokuba company, so how could the mansion be boring without him? He was never there to begin with…

Putting all of these thoughts aside for now, Seto reached over and ruffled Mokuba's hair. Mokuba was fourteen years old now, but to Seto, he would always be the small boy that, throughout all the trials of their lives so far, had remained steadfast by him throughout it all. Even when Seto didn't deserve it, he always knew that Mokuba would be there with him, that he would never abandon his older brother no matter what choices he made. Thinking of this, Seto spoke with the affection that he had only given to one person in his life. His little brother. "I've missed you too."

Standing in the background, a silent witness to the brothers reunion, Serenity smiled. 'I think maybe I should leave them alone for a little while…' she thought. 'I'll just step outside…'

As she walked out of the room and then closed the door behind her, Serenity heard Mokuba ask why she was leaving. She figured that Mokuba was talking to Seto, so she didn't pause until a few seconds later when she heard the door to Seto's room open again. Turning around, she saw Mokuba standing in the hallway.

"You're Joey Wheeler's sister, aren't you?" he asked. "I've seen you around."

Surprised that he recognized her, she nodded. "Yeah. And it's nice to see you again too, Mokuba." He smiled at her, and she continued. "Well, I came here to see how your brother was doing…but he seems to be in quite a bad mood right now." She paused, then looked up at Mokuba. "But I can understand why, of course. He's probably in a lot of pain."

"Yeah," Mokuba agreed, but then looked at Serenity with an amused look on his face. "Bad mood?" he repeated, "Nahh….he's actually in one of his better moods, believe it or not…"

"Really?" Serenity asked, surprised. "Well he didn't seem like it…I was trying to think of a way to cheer him up or something, but I don't really have any ideas…"

"Well…" Mokuba told her, "I guess I could help you out on that one. I was going to bring in a chess board later on cause Seto really likes that, but if you want then you should do it. I can play Seto any old time, but…" he paused and looked up at Serenity, "I think he could stand to make a few more friends…besides, he may not seem like it, but I think he likes you. I think you might be just what Seto needs."

Feeling herself start to blush once again that day, Serenity looked down at the floor. Could it be true…? Maybe she _could_ make friends with Seto Kaiba after all…I mean, it wasn't like she was asking for that much, just his friendship…

Seeing Serenity stand there, deep in thought, Mokuba smiled. He had an idea what she was thinking about. It was true that most girls fell for Seto as soon as they saw him, although it was always for the wrong reasons. None of them had ever tried to get to know him like Mokuba knew him, although they also never got the chance either because Seto knew what they were thinking and blew them off as soon as they came up. And that was often. All they cared about was that he was good-looking and rich.

Mokuba broke off from his own thoughts and looked back up at Serenity, who was still standing there, silently thinking to herself much like he was. Serenity, to Mokuba at least, seemed a _lot_ different from all the other girls that ever came around Seto. She was quiet and seemed a bit shy, easily embarrassed, not like the other loud, rash girls that hung around. In her face shone a sweetness that seemed to radiate from the very depths of her heart, and her hazel eyes were full of a tenderness that remained undimmed throughout whatever hardships she had faced in her life. The beauty that emanated from her was, Mokuba expected, more of an internal thing then an external thing…

Yes, Mokuba decided. She was nice. Perfect even…for Seto…

"Well," Serenity said suddenly, interrupting both her own thoughts and Mokuba's, "I better get going then." Smiling at the startled Mokuba and feeling embarrassed for having zoned out on whatever he might have said in the last few moments, she turned to quickly leave and waved goodbye at Mokuba.

"I'll be back soon!" she called, "I'm gonna go get a few things first. But I'll see you later, Mokuba, and thanks!"

Staring after her, Mokuba raised his hand and waved back. "Uh, yeah, no problem." he answered. "See ya."

Smiling to herself as she walked down the hallway, Serenity thought to herself about how nice Mokuba was. 'I bet he's a wonderful brother to Seto…' she thought. 'They seem so different, but they get along so well…' Reaching the elevator, she pressed the button to go down. For the second time that day, she found herself on a mission for Seto Kaiba. Amused, she thought, 'Do I want his friendship that bad? Pretty soon I'll be hand feeding him…' Shaking her head, she walked out of the elevator and made her way to the gift shop, hoping to find what she needed there. 'Well…' she thought, walking into the store, 'here goes nothing…'

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Well there is the end of chapter nine…hope that it was enjoyable! Ummm please review and let me know how you thought it was…Thanks! And let's see what I have to give away this week…well now that I have the keys to Kaiba's mansion, I did a little exploring for you guys (ummm, he doesn't know about this yet, but once he finds out I'm sure that I'll be in for it big time) but anyway, look what I found! Well here is a bathrobe for each of you with the initials "SK" on it…and also here are some chocolates that I found in his room! Who says that that big mean guy doesn't enjoy a little sugar now and then, haha…well anyway, I think that that's all that I have for you tonight so please enjoy and leave me a review! Thanks a lot cause you guys are the best!

~Seren147


	10. Peaches and Regret

Alright, alright, I apologize SOOOO much for not having this chapter up sooner! I am so very sorry but for the last month or so I have been so busy with school, ugh, it's not even funny. Finally, though, its spring break and I have time so here I am! I have not forsaken this story, I am going to finish it, and from now on I should have more time to write and update sooner! So once again, I apologize, and hopefully everyone has not given up on reading this story. It should start to get interesting again soon! Leave a review and tell me what you think, or if you have any ideas I would be happy to listen to them. Also leave a review to let me know that you guys haven't forgotten about my story! Thanks again, my best readers in the world!

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**_10. Peaches & Regret_**

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Serenity stepped into the hospital gift shop and looked around. It was a small and crowded place, and balloons and flowers stuck out everywhere.

'Hmmm…I wonder if they have what I'm looking for…' Serenity thought to herself, carefully making her way through the narrow aisles. She passed a rack full of books, then a display of 'get well' cards, and then what seemed a never-ending wall of cutesy plush animals. Still looking around, Serenity finally found what she was looking for in the back corner of the shop: a setup of board games. 'Finally,' she thought, as she looked over the games, 'Man, you'd think that in a hospital gift shop they'd have a whole bunch of games for sale with how boring it is here.'

Serenity bent over and began looking through all of the different varieties that were offered. 'Let's see…checkers, backgammon, yahtzee…ah, here we go, chess.' She picked up the boxed chess set that they had available and looked at it.

'Wow, this is really beautiful.' she thought. The pieces were made of glass and were handsomely carved; instead of black and white pieces, one side was made out of clear glass crystal while the other side had pieces made of frosted glass crystal.

"This is perfect." Serenity commented happily to herself, and then looked at the price tag. ¥3000. 'Wow, this is pretty expensive for a chess set.' she thought. 'I wonder if I even have that much on me…' Serenity frowned. 'Still…I want to make Seto happy. He could use a pick-me-up. But…I really can't waste so much money on just a game…maybe I can find one cheaper somewhere else…'

Letting out a sigh, Serenity put the board game back where she had found it and turned around. She was just about to walk away when she felt someone tap her from behind. She turned around again and found herself staring into the chest of a guy in a green apron. Her eyes focused and she saw a nametag pinned to his chest which read "Aaron". Looking up slowly, she saw a tall blond teenager with blue eyes staring back down at her. He was holding a pot of pink tulips and had a wide grin on his face.

"Hello" he told her cheerily, "Can I help you with anything here today?"

Taking a step back, Serenity looked back at him and replied, "Oh, no, no it's ok. I was just leaving."

"Oh I see. Well, I saw you looking at the board games over there and thought that maybe you might need help choosing one or something…" The smile remained fixated on his face.

"Uhh…yeah…I was…" Serenity answered, and took another step back. 'All this smiling…is creepy…' she thought.

"Well, you do know that all board games are half off this month, right?" He replied, his grin growing even wider if that were at all possible.

Serenity sweatdropped and then quickly looked around for a way out. 'Geez, he's smothering me back here…' she thought. Then what he had said finally dawned on her. She felt herself break out into a smile as well. 'Man, I almost missed that…' she scolded herself, and then bent down and picked up the chess set again.

"Well, in that case…" she said, mainly to herself, "I guess I'll get this then…"

"Oh! Well good! I'm glad that I could be of some assistance!" the freaky smile guy said to her.

"Umm…yeah…thanks." Serenity replied, and then darted quickly around him, towards the cash register.

"No problem!" She heard the guy call from behind her. She glanced back at him to see him waving goodbye, toothy grin still intact.

'I wonder if they botched his plastic surgery?' she thought to herself, amused, and then placed the chess set up on the counter to be rung up.

"Oh! Well isn't this nice!" exclaimed the plump red-haired lady behind the counter. She looked up from the chess set to Serenity. "This will pass away a lot of boring hours in here, now won't it?"

Serenity looked back at her and smiled. "Yeah, I hope so. I'm buying it for a friend…I just hope he likes it…"

The lady smiled back in a knowing way and said, "Yeah, well I'm sure he'll like it a lot." She rung up the chess set. "You guys will have lots of fun!"

"Good." Serenity replied, plopping down the money. 'Haha, there's only one problem with that, though…' she thought, 'I don't know how to play chess!'

Smiling as the woman handed her back her change and a shopping bag with the game in it, Serenity took it and left the store.

Stopping outside of the doorway by a fragrant stand of flowers, Serenity looked down at her watch.

'Hmmm…it's only going to be 4:00…' she thought, 'and I'm getting kind of hungry. Hmm, well I don't care what Seto thinks, he's gotta be getting hungry too…'

After hesitating a moment, Serenity walked out of the hospital entrance and made her way to a corner market that was nearby.

'Hmmm…I wonder what he would like to eat…' she thought, as she gazed up and down the aisles. She made her way to the produce aisle and looked over the different kinds of fruits. 'Well, I don't think I can go wrong with fruit, now can I?' Serenity thought, as she began picking her way through the various kinds of fruits, trying to decide what to get. 'Besides, it's not like it's a whole meal.' Serenity thought back to what Seto had said earlier about eating. 'It's just a light snack, so Seto really shouldn't mind...right?'

After leaving the bananas behind (they were too green), Serenity made her way to the peaches.

'Mmmmm…these look good…' she thought, picking up a few and feeling them for bad spots. Smiling to herself, she grabbed a small bag and began putting a few inside. 'Well, I hope Seto likes peaches.' she thought, tying up the bag and walking towards the checkout lane. Along the way she paused and grabbed a couple of bottles of tea. All this walking was making her thirsty.

After paying for her items, Serenity once again stepped back outside and into the warm sunshine. There was a cool breeze that caught her hair and did a dance with it before leaving her again. It was a beautiful day and she was in a wonderful mood. She had seen Seto, he had not chased her off, and now she was going to go back and try to cheer him up a bit. Yep, life was great.

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"Life sucks."

Mai looked up and gave a wry smile in response to Joey's comment.

"What?" he asked, and then frowned at her. "Well it does."

"Joey Wheeler, first you bang on _my_ door, and then _I_ graciouslylet you in, and now all you can say is 'life sucks'?"

"Oh, haha," Joey replied, grinning sheepishly. "Hi Mai."

"Yeah, 'hi Mai'" she repeated after him, annoyed, and then shut her front door. Joey had, after all, simply barged in once she had opened the door, without even an invite or a hello or anything. "So, what is it this time?" Mai said, exasperated. She should have guessed it though. It was none other then the Seto Kaiba predicament.

"What is it? What is it?" Joey exclaimed at her, even though she was now only two feet away from him. "I'm sure you know damn well what it is by now, Mai! It's that S.O.B. Kaiba that had to come in here and ruin my life even more! I shoulda known it, bad things like him never go away, they just keep comin' and don't stop, just bring more trouble for people like me, that's all…"

Rolling her eyes as Joey ranted on and on, Mai finally put her hand up to stop him. "Look, Joey, I understand how you feel. I realized that Kaiba _hasn't_ been the best guy on the block to you but still, he did rescue your sister, now that's gotta count for something, right?"

Joey quit his rambling and just looked at Mai. He had been in this rage all day, wondering why Seto Kaiba had to happen to _him_, wondering how he could knock some sense into his sister and get her to stop feeling obligated to Seto Kaiba, and, to top it all off, this day had been a _complete_ disaster! Not only had he woken up late for school, but he had to run there just to get there semi-on-time for lunch! And it got even better later, because, as he had gone on to learn that not only had he left this math book at home, which he needed for fifth period, but he also learned that his grades were, well, let's just say "less then average" in four of his classes. Yep, Joey was one pissed off guy right now, and what made it even better _again_ was that now he had to come and work on some stupid english project, and he hadn't even read the book! Yep, Joey was having one swell day alright. Yep, it was just so swell that Joey had even forgotten how beautiful Mai looked…that is, until now.

There she was, standing not two feet in front of him, arms crossed, jacket off, long blond hair dangling down her back and framing her lovely face, and here he was, doing nothing but complaining and acting rude. 'You're battin a thousand today, Joey' he told himself, and then swallowed hard as he looked at Mai's cherry-red lips. All he could think of at that moment was how much he wanted to kiss them. Had he been talking about a Seto Kaiba? Seto Kaiba? Who's that? That was one question that Joey couldn't answer at the moment. In fact, Joey had a hard time thinking about anything coherently at all at the moment…except, that is, Mai of course…Oh yeah. He could _definitely_ think about Mai right now. Typical guy.

"So…why so silent now, Joey? Cat got your tongue?" she asked, a smirk on those cherry-red lips of hers.

'Yeah, you could say that…' he thought.

"Anyway, what are you gawking at anyway, hmmm? Want me to provide some entertainment for you?"

Joey's eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Wh-what?" he stammered out.

"Yeah," Mai answered back, using one hand to flip her long blond hair back over her shoulder. "You know…to get your mind off of all of this." She turned around and began taking some books off of the coffee table behind them.

"Uh…Mai…" Joey stammered, trying to get out something, anything, but his throat was tight and his eyes were fixed on the backside of Mai, who was still moving items off the coffee table. 'Could this mean…' he thought, then broke into a wide grin.

"Alright, Mai, I get it." Joey said to her, finally finding his voice after his initial shock. "I never figured it'd work out _this_ way, but…alright."

"Hmmm…?" Mai asked, turning around and facing Joey. When she saw his huge grin and the mischievous look on his face, she grimaced. "Ewww…what ARE you thinking?" She extended her hand out towards his face and he saw that she was holding her deck out. "What I was talking about was a duel, hotshot. Come on, we can finish that project later."

"Alright!" Joey said, "You're on." His grin didn't waver. A duel with Mai sounded good to him too. "Oh…and Mai?" he added, as he sat down across from her, "I have noooo idea what you were talkin bout just now, but whatever it was, get it outta your mind. This is Joey Wheeler we're talkin bout here."

Mai smiled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now what'd you say we just start this thing already?"

"_Start_ it? This duel was _over_ the moment you challenged _me_, Mai."

"Un-huh, yeah, sure Joey. You're soooo right." She started shuffling her deck. 'God, she looks so good right now…' Joey thought to himself. The mischievous smile he had had on his face earlier returned and he said, "Hey Mai, ya better get ready to back up that big mouth a yours cause I ain't takin it easy on ya. IF you were a lady, well then maybe I'd consider it, but since you're not…"

"Is that all you can do is talk?" Mai asked, annoyed. "Let's see what you're made of already."

"Alright, alright, but you asked for it, Mai." With that said they each drew their cards and the duel began.

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**Knock, knock, knock.**

Serenity rapped lightly on the door that led to Seto Kaiba's room and then gently pushed it a little ways open. After leaving the market where she had bought their snacks, she had quickly made her way back to the hospital. She didn't want Seto to think that she had forgotten about him or that she wasn't coming back or something. It was hard enough trying to become friends with him as it was, and she didn't want to make it any harder. She really felt bad for him; he didn't really seem to have any friends, well, besides Mokuba that is, but still…she got the feeling that it was more a thing that he didn't _want_ any friends rather than anyone not _wanting_ to be friends with him. The guy just didn't let anybody in.

Serenity was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when she heard a voice call out from inside of the room, "Come in!" She pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked inside. Seto was still sitting up reading with his back against the raised bed while Mokuba was sitting in a chair nearby playing his DS.

"Hey Serenity," Mokuba called to her absently; "I thought it would be you."

"Hey Mokuba. Hey Seto." She looked over at Seto but he didn't look up from the book that he was reading. 'So I guess only Mokuba does the welcoming around here.' She frowned at Seto's lack of response to her. 'I'm only trying to be nice, I don't have to, you know. I can't help it if I just…feel kinda sorry for the guy.'

Serenity cleared her throat. "Well anyway, guys, I went out to the corner market and got us some snacks." She set the grocery bag down on a nearby table but lowered the bag with the chess set in it onto the floor. She wasn't ready to bring it out just yet. Not while Mokuba was still there anyway.

"So…umm…I picked us up some fruit and…here is some tea…" Serenity commented as she began to unload the grocery bag. "Hope you guys like peaches."

"Oh yeah, peaches are great!" cried Mokuba, sitting up and turning off his game. "Except that I'll have to take one to go." Mokuba turned to face Seto. "I'm really sorry big bro but I've got soccer practice to get to…I'll come back here as soon as I'm done though."

"Don't bother, Mokuba." Seto answered, finally looking up from his book. "I'll be fine here. I'm out in a few days anyway. Go on home afterwards and get some rest. I'm sure you'll be tired…besides don't you have homework to do or something?"

"Ummm…yeah…" Mokuba replied back, smiling sheepishly and looking towards the door. 'Man, I need to get out of here before Seto starts in on me…' Mokuba looked over at Serenity. 'She can handle him now.' Mokuba quickly looked back at Seto and tried to give him one of his biggest grins ever, but it didn't seem to be working… "Well, bye now! Hope you feel better soon Nii-sama and I'll be back tomorrow!" Walking quickly over to the table and grabbing one of the peaches that Serenity had bought, he quickly made his way out the door. "Bye Serenity!" he called out before he slammed the door behind him.

"Bye Mokuba." Serenity called out softly, even though Mokuba must be long gone by now. Mokuba had left, and now she was all alone with Seto. A scary thought. 'What should I say…' she thought, slowly taking her eyes off of the closed door and bringing them around to where Seto was sitting. He had his nose back in his book and, at this, Serenity felt both relieved and a bit disheartened. She was relieved that she didn't have to face his cold blue eyes directly and yet a little disappointed that he _still_ paid her no mind.

Serenity picked up two of the peaches that were still on the table and then turned back to Seto. "I'm just gonna go wash these." she smiled. "I'll be right back."

Serenity was not surprised when his countenance did not change. 'What am I, invisible?' Shaking her head, she walked into the small bathroom that was connected to his hospital room.

"I don't know what his problem is…" Serenity muttered as she began washing the fruit. She stayed in the bathroom longer then necessary, trying to compose her thoughts while the steam started to fog up the mirror that hung in front of her.

Finally turning off the water, she grabbed some paper towel and dried both her hands and the fruit on it. Turning around and throwing the towels into a wastebasket behind her, Serenity let out a sigh. She was trying here, she really was, and only God knew why she was still hanging around here with someone who wouldn't even acknowledge her.

She sighed again and then went back into the main room to where Seto was. There he was, lo and behold, with his nose still stuck in his book. She couldn't see the title from where she was standing, but whatever it was it must have sure been interesting. She walked over to the side of Seto's bed, holding the fruit out to him.

"Here you go Seto," she began, "I washed—"

"It's Kaiba to you." he snapped, finally taking his piercing eyes off the pages and placing them on her. "and I don't want it. I told you, I'm not hungry. So why don't you run along now and give it to someone else who gives a damn. I've got work to do." He stared at her for another moment for emphasis and then resumed his place reading.

"O…kay…" Serenity stammered, taken aback by his remark. Staring at him with her eyebrows furrowed, she felt the heat of anger starting to flood into her. 'Joey's right! Kaiba is such a jerk! Why would I ever become friends with him? He obviously doesn't want me here. Arrrgg…this is nothing but frustrating!'

Sitting there reading his book, Seto could sense the hostility starting to come from Serenity. 'Good.' he thought. 'She doesn't need to be here anyway. I don't need her. I don't need anyone.'

Still staring down at Seto, excuse me, _Kaiba_, Serenity was now in a state of annoyed bafflement. 'What should I do?' she thought, 'ah, I should just go. Leave him to his books and his company and his laptop. That's what he really wants anyway. Except they took away his laptop…' she laughed sardonically in her mind, 'Oh well. Serves him right. Arrggg…WHY WON'T HE LOOK AT ME?'

Serenity gave up and walked back to the grocery bag. "Alright, **_Kaiba_**, I'll leave these in here in case you want them later." She placed the peaches back into the bag. "There are also some bottles of tea in here, if you want any…" She trailed off. For some reason, she just didn't want to go. Her mood softened a little as she looked at the man who believed that strength came only with reliance on oneself. 'But…' Serenity thought, 'you get strength from other people too…after all, what joy is there in life if you have no one to share it with?' She looked back at Kaiba again. 'Guess there is no joy…judging by the expression on his face…'

"Aren't you going to eat?" Kaiba asked from behind his book. "After all, you must be hungry as well."

"Yeah…I was…" Serenity replied softly, unsure of how to act now that he was actually talking to her. 'Maybe…he didn't mean what he said earlier…not really…' her heart went out to him. 'After all…I don't think he is used to people being "nice" to him. Maybe I should just give him some time…?'

"Then why don't you take it with you when you go." He put the book down. "Yeah, that's right. Why don't you take the doggy bag home with you because I'm sure your mutt of a brother would eat it."

"Wh-what?" Serenity asked, her eyes wide. "W-Why are you acting this way?" Against her will she felt her eyes start to fill with tears. 'Great, this is just what I need.' she thought, 'to cry because of what this jerk says.'

"Because I can." Seto told her. "Because I don't like your brother. And I don't like you."

He saw a tear start to trickle down her cheek and quickly returned to his book. 'Wh…what's wrong with me?' he asked himself. There was this feeling inside of him that was strange now that he had made her cry…he felt…bad? He quickly glanced at her again and saw her just standing there, looking back at him, trying to look tough and pissed off…but it just wasn't working.

"I-It's ok." she finally managed to say. "Y-you might be hungry later." She nodded at him and tried to smile. 'That's it, Serenity.' she told herself, 'just keep strong until you get out of here, don't show him what he's doing to you…' She turned around and walked slowly towards the door.

"Hey," came a voice from behind her. She stopped and slowly turned around.

"D…don't cry…"

Serenity looked at Kaiba without changing her expression. "What do you care?" she asked him softly.

Looking into her eyes, he…he felt his resolve starting to weaken. 'Wh…what is she doing to me?' he thought, in horror almost. "I…I…" he couldn't make himself say what his mind felt…it was all so confusing… 'I care…'

Serenity looked closely at Kaiba. 'What…is he trying to say? Does this mean that he…doesn't hate me?'

Serenity smiled as she watched Kaiba study his hands. 'The way he acts…it's gotta just be a defense right? He puts up this façade, this…macho guy act…but inside…what does he really feel?'

"Seto…"

'ARRRG WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE OF MY HEAD! This girl…what is happening…I'm Seto Kaiba…I don't need anyone…especially not some stupid lame-brained half-wit that is standing here crying for nothing…' He looked up from his lap to her face, his expression cold again. "Just go. I don't know why you're hanging around here anyway. You better leave quickly before I have to call the pound on you; you are, after all, the mutt's sister, and you know what that would make you."

Serenity stood in front of Kaiba as he said these words to her. Silent, feeling as if her heart were about to be ripped out of her, she stood. After he was finished, she nodded her head slowly as warm tears slid down her cheeks. "Ok, Kaiba, if that is what you want…then I'll leave. I'm sorry for troubling you; I merely thought that you would like some company while you recover. I guess I was wrong." She paused, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. Against her will, her voice started to choke up. "I guess I'll be going now…it will be getting dark soon and Joey will expect me. I hope you feel better soon." She turned and walked toward the door, leaving Kaiba staring at her back as she walked away. She placed her hand on the doorknob and then turned back around, slowly. "Maybe I'll come back in a few days, just to check on how you're doing. Don't worry about seeing me though, I'll just ask the front desk. I'm sure they'll know. I wish I could say that it was a pleasure getting to know you, but…you know. Anyway, thank you for all that you've done for me, thank you for being there that night. I'll never forget you…Bye…Seto…" As she closed her mouth a stray tear found its way past her lips, leaving her with its bitter, salty taste.

"Serenity…wait…"

Smiling sadly, she turned back around and opened the door. 'No, Seto.' she thought. 'Not now.'

Kaiba watched as she ignored the words that he had softly spoken and gently closed the door behind her. His heart was pounding in his chest and, though no words made it past his lips, he felt something inside of him saying that he should stop her somehow, that he should apologize. But then there was something else inside of him, the Kaiba part of him, that made him remember that he bowed to no one. 'I made…the right choice…this is for the best.'

While his mind convinced him that he had done the right thing by keeping his guard up and this strange girl out, he still couldn't shake the little nagging voice inside of him that said it was wrong…this was all wrong.

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Serenity sighed to herself as she stood outside of Kaiba's room. Her mind felt exhausted and all she wanted to do was to go home.

'What a day…' she thought, trying to wipe away all her tears before she started walking out. 'I just don't know what to do about him…he makes my head hurt.' She started walking towards the elevator now that she was calmer. 'Why do I feel such a…connection to him?' She brought her hand up and rubbed her head. 'I don't know…all I do know, though, is that I won't have to deal with it anymore.' Pressing the button and then waiting for the elevator to arrive, Serenity looked back once more towards Seto's room, where his door still remained closed. 'He's not going to let me in…I can't be his friend…no one can…' Her mind flashed back to when Mokuba entered the room a few minutes after she had arrived to visit Seto, of how he had come in running, flying into Seto's arms, and of how Seto had embraced him in return despite his injuries. A small smile made its way onto her face. "Well…at least he has Mokuba…I guess that's the only person he needs. But…he _does_ need others…what to do…?' Her headache started to get worse. 'I don't know, I can't deal with this anymore. He wants to be left alone…then fine…I'll leave him alone…'

The elevator doors slid open and Serenity stepped inside. As she began to descend, she felt her eyes start to fill with tears again. 'He said such mean things…' she thought, trying to blame the sadness she was feeling on his words. Deep inside, however, her heart was telling her that she was sad because she was leaving…him.

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Alright, so how was that chapter? Once again I apologize for taking so long; from now on I'll try to keep the update quicker. Dang it, I hate falling behind! It sucks! So anyway, my readers (and hopefully reviewers) I hope that you enjoyed that story and please leave a review so I know that there are still people reading this story! Thank you very much, you guys are great! Oh, and before I forget, here is a present for you…let's see, what do I have this time…? ~rummages around~ Hmmm well it seems that I have this nice, large, sparkling picture of a damn fine CEO…which, of course, I am willing to give away…along with these bags of chocolates that I snuck from Mokuba's room. (Shhhh! Don't tell him!) So hopefully you like your gifts for this chapter and please please PLEASE review! All reviews are welcome! Bye now!

~Seren147


	11. Love, Life, and Chess

Alright everyone, here I present to you chapter 11! Yey! ~bows~ At least it's a quicker update! Not nearly as long as the last! So hope you enjoy and please leave a review. (By the way, I don't own YGO, so don't ask, thanks!)

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**_11. Love, Life, & Chess_**

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Three days had passed before Serenity found herself returning to the hospital to check on Kaiba's condition. It was now the weekend and she had nothing to do. There was nothing left that could keep her mind off of Kaiba now. For the past few days, after the scene between her and Kaiba at the hospital had unfolded, she had found herself busy every second of the day. She had caught up on and was even ahead on schoolwork, had prepared huge meals for Joey, had even cleaned their whole apartment, anything to keep her mind busy and off of _him_. Seto Kaiba. And yet her mind wandered back to him every spare second she had. So, when Saturday came around and there was nothing left for her to do, she found herself once again at the hospital's entrance.

'I am not going to visit him, I'm merely checking on his condition, that's all.' Serenity glared against the afternoon sunlight that reflected off of the hospital windows. 'I'll just stop in really quick, that's all…'

Once inside, she made her way up to the second floor lobby in order to inquire about his status. Shying her eyes away from the direction that his room lay in, she began to approach the main desk, only to find…no one there.

'Hmm that's strange…' she thought. 'I wonder where the receptionist has disappeared to…?'

Looking around in all directions, she still failed to notice anyone. The hallways remained quiet in the late afternoon haze. Serenity's eyes once again drifted to the doorway of Kaiba's room. 'That's weird,' she thought, 'his door is actually…open?' All of a sudden a voice was heard coming from out of that very room.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO THE HELL YOU ARE OR WHO GAVE YOU YOUR ORDERS! I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME MY FUCKING COMPUTER BACK ALREADY! YOU GOT THAT? OR ARE YOU TOO STUPID TO KNOW WHO I AM? I'M SETO FUCKING KAIBA AND I COULD HAVE YOUR ASS FIRED ANYTIME I DAMN WELL PLEASE SO YOU BETTER DO WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU AND GIVE IT BACK LIKE A GOOD LITTLE GIRL!"

Serenity paled. 'Oh no…that's Seto…'

Another voice drifted out of the open door, this time the voice of a woman. "I'm sorry Sir but I just can't do that! The doctor ordered that you not be placed under any unnecessary stress! I'm sure you're company will do just fine! Now please, Sir, CALM DOWN!"

Serenity watched as a young, dark-haired woman exited his room, pulling the door shut on a ranting Kaiba behind her. She let out an exasperated sigh as she headed towards Serenity.

"I'm sorry, Miss," she said to Serenity as she neared her, "He's been one of our more unruly patients." She nodded her head towards Kaiba's now-closed door. "He's recovering from a surgery and won't listen to what's good for him." She shook her head. "It's been hell for me, though."

Serenity tried to smile while the woman talked. "Are you the receptionist?" she asked the woman.

The woman nodded. "Yes, I am. And I'm sorry that you had to hear that. But now that everything is a bit calmer, how can I help you?"

A blush started to find its way up Serenity's cheeks. "Well…actually…I came to inquire about…_him_." She pointed towards Seto's door.

"Oh." replied the receptionist, "I see. Well…he's…quite "energetic" I guess you could say…"

Serenity nodded in response as the woman went on.

"Ummmm…it's true that he's been a real pain, but I guess he's bored to death in there." She smiled. "At least that's what he says. But he could really use a visitor right about now; I bet that would cheer him up. So far I've only seen his younger brother come to visit…no one else has been here at all."

"Oh, I see." Serenity responded quietly, her cheeks still aflame. 'Maybe…he could use a visitor…' she thought, 'Maybe…I _should_ try to cheer him up, once again? I mean, he has a reason for being so mean right now, right? He's probably in a lot of pain…and the things he said the other day…I can't just leave _that_ between us, right? He saves me, and then _I_ abandon _him_?' Serenity groaned mentally. 'Why does he have to make showing gratitude so hard?'

"Ok then…" she heard herself say, "I'll see what he's up to…"

"Thank you, Miss." the receptionist replied. "Hopefully…he won't yell at you…he's been in quite a bad mood lately, the last few days in particular." She shook her head. "I just don't know what's wrong with him." She looked up and smiled cheerily at Serenity. "Mentally that is."

Serenity smiled back. "I don't know either." As the receptionist walked past her and towards the main desk again, Serenity remained stationary, her body not yet ready to move towards the door. 'I don't know about this…'

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'Damn it!' Kaiba swore mentally, still angry at the fact that they had his laptop and refused to give it back. 'This is all such _shit_.'

Sitting at the table in his room in his usual trenchcoat attire, Kaiba still fumed mentally. He had gotten his way with almost everything, including a ban on all hospital food as well as that stupid gown they had made him wear…but he still couldn't get back his laptop, no matter how loud he had yelled. And he had yelled loud.

"Why don't they just give it up already…" he muttered, "I'll be out of here in a few days anyway…" Sitting with his arms crossed, he frowned and looked at what lay upon the table. A glass chessboard was set up on it, the pieces all in line.

"Stupid girl…" he muttered, and then reached out and picked up the Knight piece on the board. He felt his anger start to die down as he gazed at the glass crystal piece in his hand. The Knight had always been his favorite piece for some reason, and lately he had found himself studying it more often and thinking about where it had come from. The girl. Serenity. 'I really _must_ be bored out of my mind…' he thought.

His mind flashed back to when Mokuba had found the bag that had contained the game board. It was the day after he had last seen _her_, and right away he had recognized that she had been the one to leave it.

"We should really play it!" Mokuba had told him, "It will be fun! Then you can play Serenity too when she comes back, she's really sweet, I like her a –"

"Mokuba, that's enough. I don't want to talk about _her_ so just stop. And I don't feel like playing right now."

Mokuba had simply set the box back down on the table without another word. 'That was strange of him…' thought Seto, 'usually he's so…persistent.'

As Seto slowly turned the glass piece in his hand, light coming from the window reflected off of it and made it shine like a light in his hand. "Stupid girl…" he muttered again.

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Her hand resting lightly on the doorknob, Serenity forced herself to take a deep breath and calm her beating heart. 'This has gotta be a mistake…' she thought, but her hand didn't move from where it was. She laughed mentally. 'Come on, Serenity, don't be a big chicken. Just go in and face him! Show him he doesn't scare you and that you won't take any more verbal abuse from him! Show him what a Wheeler is made of…' She gently turned the doorknob and walked into the room.

'Oh…,' she thought, upon entrance to his room. Her resolve died down instantly as soon as she has spotted Kaiba. There he sat, near the window. There was something in his hand, but she couldn't tell what it was from the distance where she stood. 'He looks…so handsome…' The light from the window behind him caught his brown hair and made it light up, giving him a quality that seemed almost…saintly. 'That's crazy' she thought, 'him, a saint.' But that's the way he looked. His face glowed golden and his white trenchcoat only added to the appearance. He looked up at her, his eyes shockingly blue, and his expression did not change. He merely waited for her to say something, anything.

'I can't believe she came back…' he thought. 'After all that I said…what could she have been thinking? But…I'm glad…'

"Seto…" she found herself whispering. She paused to swallow, and then continued. "How…how are you?"

He placed the chess piece back on the board and answered, "I'm fine. I'll be out in a few days…" he looked back up at her. "It's about time too, I might add."

Serenity nodded and closed the door behind her. "Well, I'm glad to hear it." She looked towards where the chess board was set up. "So…do you like it?"

Kaiba looked at her questioningly and then glanced at the board. "What? This?" He motioned towards it. "Yeah, it's fine."

Serenity nodded again. "I'm glad." An awkward silence passed before Kaiba asked her what she was doing there.

"Well…" she answered, "I wanted to say that I'm…I'm sorry for the other day. I really shouldn't have acted that way, I mean, I understand that you are in pain and all…" Kaiba snorted at this but Serenity chose to ignore him and went on. "so I guess…" she shrugged, "I don't know…"

Kaiba nodded but didn't respond.

Serenity looked around nervously, and then started walking over to where he sat. She sat down in the chair across from him, her eyes looking down at her hands that rested in her lap and her mind trying to come up with something to say that would break the silence. Kaiba broke it first.

"So…do you know how to play chess?" He looked at the board she had brought. "Like I said…it is quite boring in here…" His eyes flared back up at her in question. 'What am I doing?' he thought, 'This will only encourage her…' Despite what he was thinking he still waited for an answer from her. 'This isn't like me…'

"Well, haha, actually…" Serenity laughed nervously, "…no." She looked back up to see how Kaiba would respond to her, now that she had revealed her ignorance of the game. 'Does he think I'm retarded now?'

A bemused smirk made its way onto Kaiba's lips. "Oh, I see." Still staring at her, he once again crossed his arms. "In that case…"

"Yes?" interjected Serenity, hoping that he wouldn't tell her to get lost now.

"Well…" resumed Kaiba, "…are you willing to learn?"

Serenity's eyes opened wide in surprise at his proposition; this was one thing that she had never expected. "Does this mean…that you're willing to teach me?" she asked, hesitantly. 'What's he up to…' she thought to herself, 'Is this some kind of trick to make me look stupid…?'

"Well that's what it looks like." he answered, "I'll teach you if you want to learn." His smirk widened. "After all…you bought the game."

Serenity averted her gaze to her lap once again as she felt her cheeks go aflame. 'Stupid, stupid,' she scolded herself in her mind, 'look what you've gone and done…this is so humiliating…'

"Hey, it's really not that bad." Kaiba's voice caused her to look up from her hands. "With me teaching you you'll get the hang of it very quickly, I assure you." He pushed one side of the board towards her and scooted himself opposite her. "It only took a few times before I got the hang of it too, of course my father was teaching me and he was a master at it…" He started moving his pieces so that they were in perfect alignment with one another. Staring at the board in what seemed deep thought, he said quietly, "…but, of course,…he died a long time ago."

Watching this quiet transformation after he spoke about his father, Serenity felt in her heart a twinge of sadness for him. 'I don't think…he was talking to me just now…he looks so different…from before…'

"I'm sorry." she said quietly, her voice filled with feeling. "It sounds like he meant a lot to you…"

Kaiba looked up suddenly, as if for the first time realizing that he had spoken his emotion aloud along with his words. "Oh, it's nothing," he countered back, his shield up once more. "That was many years ago, long before Gozoburo adopted me and I became what I am today. There's no room for unpleasant memories in today's world."

"Yeah…I guess you're right…" Serenity quietly responded. Now she was the one lost in thought.

'Geez, this is great,' thought Kaiba sarcastically, 'now she'll never get off my back. Damn it! If only she would have known how to play the stupid game none of this would have come up…now she probably thinks I had a traumatized childhood or something…'

Serenity's gaze refocused as she looked up into Kaiba's face. His countenance had turned cold and he once again seemed as aloof as before. 'Guess he doesn't like thinking about his past…'

"Hey," she said to him aloud, "so what does this piece do?" She picked up the glass horse-shaped piece that was on her side of the playing board. "I think I like this piece the best; it's really pretty." She glanced back over at Kaiba again. The same bemused smirk as before was now back on his face.

"Yeah…" he replied, "I guess that's one thing you could call it." He picked up the same piece on his side of the field. "This one was always my favorite piece too, though I don't know why…" He looked up at Serenity. 'She's very…amusing…' he thought. Focusing back on her question, he began to explain. "This piece is called the Knight. It is able to move across the board in an "L"-shaped manner." He looked down and demonstrated on the board. "You are able to move it any way, forwards, backwards, to the side, it doesn't matter. As long as it follows the path of the L." He looked up at her. "Do you understand?"

Serenity nodded, feeling her cheeks heat up again. 'Kind of, anyway…' she thought to herself.

"Good." responded Kaiba, placing the Knight back in its original position. "The pieces on the end are called the Rooks. They are able to move horizontally or vertically in any direction." He glanced back up at her to make sure she was getting it, and then went on.

"The Knight then goes next to the Rook as you make your way into the center of your row."

'Geez…he's so technical.' Serenity thought. 'He acts as if this is a matter of life or death…it's just a game.'

"Next to the Knight rests the Bishop, which is able to move diagonally in any direction. The last two pieces in the middle are your Queen and King, the Queen being able to move any way at all, in any direction, while the King being able to move only one space at a time in any direction." He lifted his finger off of the King and then motioned to the pieces that stood in the row before the ones that he had just named. "And this row…all of these pieces are your pawns. They are only able to move forward, and only one space at that. There is an exception, however. The first time that they are moved they are able to advance two spaces instead of one." He stopped in his speech and glanced up at Serenity. "I guess that's enough rules for now. I'm sure you won't remember them all right away, but if you get stuck you can just ask me." He sat back with a smug look on his face.

'He really thinks he's all that now doesn't he?' Serenity thought, a bit annoyed by him taking her so lightly. 'Well, he may think he knows everything, but I'll show him that I'm not just some dumb girl who he has to spell everything out for…now which piece was the Rook again?' Serenity looked at all of the pieces that were on her side of the board. 'Then again…maybe my plan _won't_ work out as well as I had hoped…'

Waiting as Serenity tried to make sense of all of his instructions, Kaiba laughed mentally. 'I bet she doesn't even know which piece is which…'

"Here." he said, "I'll start and then you try to follow. If it gets too hard then just tell me and I'll tell you what to do."

"Ok." Serenity replied, as he made his opening move. Although she eventually did lose the game, she was surprised by how Kaiba patiently helped her out every time that she blundered or made a wrong move…which, considering that it was her first game, was a lot. 'He really does seem to be enjoying himself…' she thought. 'He must love chess.'

Three games and three victories for Kaiba later, Serenity was ready to give up.

"So, you've had enough?" asked Kaiba, triumphant in his wins.

Serenity laughed lightly. "Yeah, I think I have." she smiled at him, "Thanks for teaching me, you were a wonderful teacher, but who ever knew that a game of chess could tire someone out so quickly?"

"Yeah…" Kaiba replied, "That's why I like it." He looked at her for a moment longer with an almost amused look on his face. 'She's…interesting…'

Feeling embarrassed under his gaze, Serenity busied herself by straightening up the pieces on the board.

"So…what do you usually like to do in your free time?" she asked him.

"Free time?" Kaiba repeated incredulously, and then snorted. "There's no such thing as free time for me. You know what they say, no rest for the wicked."

"I thought that was "weary"," replied Serenity, looking up at him.

"Yeah," said Kaiba, "That too." He glanced sideways at her and then looked away towards the rest of the room. "No…I really don't do much in my spare time…but maybe that's because I don't have any." He let out a sigh and then looked at her again. "Between school and running my own company, well…it doesn't leave much "free" time."

Serenity nodded again. She was proud of both of them at the moment, him for not getting mad and running her out and herself for actually coming in here. She smiled to herself. 'I think…this will work.' she thought, 'I think…we can become friends. He's really not as tough as he puts on to be.' She studied his face as he looked out the window. 'No…I really wouldn't mind getting to know him better at all…and maybe I can even get him to lighten up a bit…show him that he does have some "free" time…maybe…'

As the last rays of sunshine fell across Seto's face as he gazed out of the window, Serenity felt her own ray of sunshine fall onto her heart…and the source was Seto Kaiba.

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Ok everyone, that's the end of chapter 11! Wooo that was at least quicker now wasn't it? See, I told you guys I'd have this chapter up faster then the last! For awhile there I was really behind on schoolwork, but now that I'm all caught up and…well, it's time for more writing! Yey! So…how was this chapter anyway? Leave me a review and let me know please! Hmmm….so let's see what presents are in store for you this chapter…hmmm…well it seems to me that you all like Seto Kaiba, so I can't go wrong with gifts about/from him, right? So let me see…~rummages around~...ah, here it is! ~holds up key to Kaiba's mansion~ Let's see what I can find! ~Goes to Kaiba's mansion and rummages around in his stuff~ hmmmm…well lookie here! ~hold up BEWD pajamas~ I think these belong to none other then Mr. CEO himself! See, he tries to hide his cute, sweet side but he just can't! ~grins mischievously~ …at least not while I'm around! So anyway, that's the gift for this chapter, and, oh, here, I'll throw in this huge YGO Easter basket for all of you! (Yes I realize that it's a bit _after_ Easter but oh well, it's still full of yummy chocolate and YGO!) So enjoy and please, in return, leave me a review! Comments, suggestions, criticisms, whatever, just please leave a review! Thanks a lot, you guys are great!

~Seren147


	12. If Only there were more Hours in the Day

Ok, so here follows the disclaimer: I do not own YGO or any of its characters…only this story and its plot! So there you have it! Anyway, I now proudly present chapter 12 of 'The Meaning of Life'. Hope it's good! Leave me a review and tell me!

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**_12. If Only There Were More Hours in the Day_**

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Serenity took in a deep breath and sighed happily. She was sitting at her desk in third period, listening to her teacher drone on and on about irrelevant issues. Actually, she only _looked_ like she was listening…her mind was really far away.

'I can't believe the last four days have gone so well…' she thought to herself, her eyes glazed over, 'It's really…unbelievable! Seto's been really nice so far, well…ok, so I wouldn't classify it as "nice" nice, but still…he's at least kept his patience these last few days…' She smiled to herself. 'Besides, he gets released tomorrow! He'll be back to his regular routine, going to school, going to work…'

Serenity's thoughts trailed off as she frowned. 'Wait a minute…does that mean that, as soon as he's released, he'll forget all about me? I mean, we _are_ friends, right?' Serenity's face suddenly clouded over in doubt. 'He won't just…forget about me, will he? I mean, he can't! Things won't just…go back to normal…will they?'

"Pssst! Earth to Serenity! Quit your daydreaming!"

"Hmmm?" Serenity said, her thoughts now broken by her best friend beside her.

"I just asked if you wrote down the homework assignment he just assigned…" The brown haired girl looked at Serenity worriedly. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Oh, me?" Serenity responded, a bit embarrassed, "Oh yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me. And, uhh, no, actually, I didn't even hear what he assigned…"

"Ummm, yeah, I figured as much. Daydreaming about Kaiba, huh?"

Serenity felt her cheeks get _really_ red at the mention of Kaiba's name. "No!" she hissed, "I was _not_ daydreaming about him and anyway be quiet! No one's supposed to know about that!"

"Oh yeah?" Her friend challenged, "And why is that?"

"Ummm, well, because…" Serenity struggled to think of a good response. "Because…I don't want anyone to know, ok? So, just, leave me alone!"

"Alright, alright, geez…" her friend replied, "you're hanging out with him way too much…his attitude is rubbing off on you."

"Uh! N-no it's not!" Serenity stammered, afraid that everyone was going to hear what they were saying…a quick glance around though said that that wasn't likely since everyone else was absorbed in their own conversations now that the teacher had quit talking…

"Whatever." came the response.

'Man,' Serenity thought, 'I never should have told her that I was visiting Kaiba in the hospital…oh well, at least she's leaving me alone now…' Serenity let out a sigh of relief and tried to do her best to mentally shoo-away the blush on her cheeks. 'Man…my cheeks feel as if they're on fire!'

"Hey Serenity," came a voice from behind her, "what are you up to?"

Serenity turned around at the sound of the voice to discover Duke Devlin behind her. "Oh, hi Duke. Ummmm, nothing much actually. How are you?"

"Well, I'm doing fine." He came around her desk and sat down in front of her. "Hey, why are your cheeks so red? Are you not feeling well?" Right away he extended his palm to her forehead to "check her temperature".

Serenity pulled her face away. "I'm fine, Duke, really. It's nothing."

'Why am I blushing anyway?' she thought to herself, 'It's not like anyone heard our little conversation about Kaiba, so…what's going on?'

"Well if you say so." Duke answered. "I haven't seen much of you around lately, Serenity, you been busy?"

Serenity looked at him and nodded, "Yeah, I've been busy…"

'Why won't he go away already?' she thought, 'I need some time to think!'

"Yeah I thought so." Duke said. "In fact, I haven't seen so much of you lately that I thought that maybe we could spend a little time together tomorrow…you know, just the two of us…" He trailed off and looked at Serenity. "That is, of course, if you feel like it that is."

Serenity paled. 'Oh no!' she thought, 'He's not asking me out on a date…is he? And tomorrow…tomorrow is when Seto gets released…'

Serenity paused, trying to think of a nice way to say that she didn't want to go…she knew that Duke had a crush on her…"Ummm, Duke…well…I kinda already had plans made out for tomorrow. I really couldn't cancel, I'm sorry." She looked up to see how he was taking it. 'Good so far,' she thought, and then continued on, "Yeah, and…ummm…like I said, I've been really busy lately…I just don't think that now would be a good time."

Duke nodded. "Oh, I understand about being busy, Serenity. Don't worry about it! I know that school has been very hectic lately and everything…"

Serenity nodded, agreeing with everything Duke was saying. 'Oh, when will this day end?' she thought while Duke droned on and on…

"…and anyway, there is always the dance next month! Do you think that you'd be up to that? I mean, if you don't have anyone else already, we could go as friends…" He eyed Serenity cheerily. 'Just be cool…' he thought, 'don't move too fast…'

"Oh, um, yeah…" Serenity replied, "well, we'll see about that when the time comes, ok Duke?" She smiled up at him. 'I hope he gets that I don't want to go with him…I mean, if it were Seto, sure…oh no! What was that? Seto? It's not—we're not—it's not like that between us! We're just friends! I mean, although of course friends do go to dances together too, I suppose, but still, he's not the type, and it's not that way…'

Serenity continued arguing in her mind about how it wasn't like "that" with Kaiba while Duke went on about talking to her later about the dance, in a few weeks. Serenity, however, had stopped listening in between her thoughts about "Seto" and "Kaiba". When Duke finally got up to leave and said goodbye, it was the best she could do to mutter a response back at him. 'Poor Serenity…' he thought, as he walked away, 'I think she really _is_ getting sick and doesn't even realize it…'

Meanwhile, what _Serenity_ was thinking was very confusing indeed. 'Well…with Kaiba, I guess…I just never thought of him in that way, I mean, I've only really begun to get to know him this past week, and…there hasn't been any hint of anything like _that_, I mean…' Serenity struggled in her mind helplessly. 'Well…yes he is very attractive…and smart…and he isn't a _complete_ jerk like Joey says…but still…that doesn't mean that I like him as more then a friend…right? I mean we hardly know each other!'

Her mind flashed back to the day she had seen his hair light up in the sunlight…to his small laugh, if you could call it that, every time that he beat her at chess…to the way his blue eyes looked at her and she felt almost…naked to them, like they could see right through her and peer into the very depths of her soul…

'Oh no,' she thought, 'I really do have it bad for him!' The image of his face floated in her mind. 'Lately…he's been all that I think about…even dream about…I guess…without even realizing it…I've started to like him so much…' Her thoughts trailed off as she thought about Seto. 'I've been blushing…because I like him. I care about him so much, how could I have not seen this before…? He's…wonderful…'

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Kaiba shifted in his seat as he watched the seconds go by on the clock. 'Where is she…?' he thought in annoyance, looking as the clock ticked past three in the afternoon. 'I want to get out of this place, and they give me some bullshit about not letting me leave by myself until tomorrow…fuck…arggg…this place is fucking annoying!'

He let out an aggravated sigh and crossed his arms in front of him. Sitting in a chair near the door, he closed his eyes and waited. His white trenchcoat billowed around him, the buckles on his arms shaping the lean outline of his body and giving him the attitude he strove for. His fine brown hair hung down over his face and covered his eye as he sat. This was the first day that his wound actually _did_ feel better; he wasn't just saying that to get everybody off his back. But it's not like it mattered. He felt that he could take _anything_ at the moment.

Impatient, he let out another sigh and opened his eyes. The clock read one minute past three. 'Arrgggg, Damn it! How long is this girl gonna take!'

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"Oh, excuse me, pardon me…" Serenity dealt out apologies as she rushed through the crowded supermarket. Just making it to the end of one of the checkout lines, she glanced back down at her shopping list, hoping to find that she hadn't missed any items on it. No such luck.

"Arggg…" Serenity groaned aloud when she saw that she had forgotten to stop for the fish. "And that's the main course…" Frowning unhappily, she once again made her way out of the checkout line and back into the main store. 'Just my luck…' she thought to herself bitterly, 'No matter what I do…it's always the bad luck that stays with me…'

Pushing herself through the crowds once more, she once again started to mutter apologies to the people that pushed past her. 'This is just not my day…' she thought.

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"Dang it! Where is she?" Joey looked up at the clock, waiting for his little sister to return from the market. "Mai'll be here in another hour and Serenity's gotta get back in time to cook us dinner…"

Joey smiled to himself. During their last duel, when they were _supposed_ to have been working on their english projects, they had each bet something on the outcome of the duel. Joey had declared that if Mai won, she would have to cook him dinner and wait on him hand and foot the whole time. Mai agreed, saying that if _she_ won, Joey would simply have to cook her dinner, and that was that. '_I already know that your cooking is gonna be lousy Joey Wheeler, so I won't ask you to wait on me hand and foot. I wouldn't want to turn you into my little **puppy** now would I?'_

"Arrgggg….that Mai!" Joey exclaimed, her words still echoing in his mind, "She's got some nerve!"

Despite _trying_ to be angry, he felt himself break out into a wide grin. "Yeah…" he muttered to no one in particular, "She's some girl…"

Finally snapping out of his daze, he looked up at the clock again, this time annoyed. 3:15 PM. "Serenity…" he said aloud, "where tha hell are ya?"

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Breathing a sigh of relief now that she had finally left the market behind, Serenity adjusted the bags that she now held in her hands and walked quickly towards her home.

'I hope Joey isn't mad at me…' she though absently, knowing that he wanted to impress Mai tonight. She smiled at the thought. 'They would be really cute together…'

Regardless of what Joey said to her, she knew that he really did like Mai, and in a way that went beyond just general friendship. 'Yep…' Serenity thought, smiling at her brother's reluctance to admit it, 'it's really cute…'

Leaving thoughts of her brother behind, Serenity began to think about Kaiba. 'Now Joey I'm not too worried about, but Seto…I told him I'd come visit him today…I hope he's not angry that I'm going to be late…' Her thoughts drifted off as she walked down the street. 'Those feelings that I had today…I guess it really was inevitable that I would fall for him…I mean, every girl in the school practically is in love with him, even though they don't know him…' She smiled at the irony of the situation. 'I had always said that I _wouldn't_ like someone just because everyone else did, that I would need to know the person first and decide on my own…and yet all of these other girls just throw their affections towards him without even knowing him…and here I am, and I fall for him regardless of how well I know him or not…' She smiled sardonically at herself. 'Well…that's me, I guess…still…it feels good knowing that he doesn't pay attention to all of those other girls at school, and yet…he pays attention to me…'

She ignored how her mind tried to bring up the images of all the times that he had told her to leave. 'Those times don't matter now…' she told herself in justification, '…all that matters now is that he accepts me in more or less his own fashion…I guess that's the best that I could hope for right now…'

Serenity's thoughts were interrupted as she reached the outside of the apartment complex that was home to her and Joey. Smiling to herself as she paused for a few moments to rest, she looked up at the clear blue sky that hung like a painted canvas above her. 'Maybe…' she thought, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, '…just maybe…in the future…it will be possible…' She lowered her hand and began to walk towards the apartment. '…but for right now…let's focus on Joey and Mai.'

"There you are! I was gettin' worried about ya, sis! What took ya so long?" Brushing aside Joey's exclamations as she walked into their kitchen, Serenity set the bags of groceries up on the counter. Taking off her coat, Serenity sighed as she began her explanation.

"It was nothing, Joey, the supermarket was just a little crowded is all…" She smiled up at him reassuringly as she placed her coat over the back of a chair. "Don't worry so much, I have everything you need to make Mai a delicious dinner!"

"Well that's a reli—Wait a minute! Whadya mean, everything _I _need to cook Mai a dinner? I thought you were doin that!" Joey looked down at his sister and crossed his arms. "Sure, we both know that I'm talented, Serenity, but even _I_ have some problems with things…cooking being one a 'em!" He looked pleadingly at Serenity. "Come on sis…help me out here, this dinner's gotta be good!"

Serenity returned Joey's pleading gaze with a coy look of her own. "Oh?" she asked, innocently, "Is that so…? And why would you want everything to be absolutely_ perfect_, hmmmm? Could it be that you're trying to _impress_ Mai, maybe even _like_ her a little bit, maybe just a teeny-tiny bit?"

Serenity smiled mischievously as Joey's face began to turn red. As he started to protest, like she _knew_ he would, she quickly held up her hand to silence him. "Now Joey, I'm really sorry but I've gotta go now, so don't worry about anything…"

"Wait a minute…" Joey interrupted, placing his hands on his hips. "Just where are you runnin off to now?" He looked at her suspiciously as Serenity began to feel her own face heat up under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Well…" she began, trying to come up with something quick, "Umm…well I've gotta leave you two alone, right? I mean, come on, you wouldn't want a third wheel like me hanging around, right? Besides I'm only going to a friends…"

"Oh, come on now Serenity, you'd be no third wheel…" Joey smiled down at her, trying to reassure her. "You're welcome to stay…" a big grin broke out on his face, "…and to cook…"

"Haha." Serenity replied sarcastically, glad that Joey didn't ask just _who_ she was going to see. "Well, no, I am already late, but don't worry about dinner. I knew this was going to happen beforehand." As Joey gave her a questioning look, Serenity started to explain about dinner.

"Well I already knew that you'd want me to stay and cook for you even though it was _your_ bet…" she smiled as she saw the knowing look on Joey's face as he agreed with her. "…and so, in effect, I made it _really_ simple for you. So listen up, big brother." She led him around the kitchen, explaining to him what to do as she pointed out different things.

"Here's the rice cooker, Joey, I already steamed the rice…" she opened the lid so he could see the white grains underneath. She then led him to the refrigerator, where she opened it up to show him a bowl that was resting inside. "Here are your vegetables, already prepared…" She shut the door and then retrieved a pink box from one of the bags that she had brought back with her from the market. "And this…this is your dessert for later…" She opened the box to show him a dozen chocolate-iced cupcakes resting inside. She watched amused as his mouth started to water and then quickly covered the cupcakes back up so that he would not ruin them with his drool.

"Joey…" she told him, "these cupcakes are for later. You better not mess them up now." She laughed as he looked over at her and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sure, Sis, whatever you say." They both looked at each other knowing that as soon as she left he would take the opportunity to inhale five of them at once before Mai arrived. As if Serenity didn't know that much already. 'And that's why I purchased a dozen…' she thought.

Setting the cupcakes aside, she then took out the package of fish that she had bought.

"Ok Joey, so this is going to be the only part of the dinner that you'll have to make." Seeing his worried expression, she smiled and quickly tried to reassure him. "Don't worry, it will be easy. All you have to do is place this fish…" she pointed to the fish, "with this sauce…" she took out a bottle of sauce from another grocery bag and showed it to him, "and combine them in that wok over there. See? Nothing too difficult, right?"

Judging from the expression on his face, it seemed to her that Joey begged to differ. Letting out a sigh, she turned around to start taking the fish out of its wrapper. 'Maybe it's just easier if I do it…' she thought, but was then startled when Joey took the fish out of her hand.

"It's alright, Sis. I'll do it. You go ahead and get ready to see your friend."

Pleasantly surprised, she looked up at Joey's determined face and agreed. "Alright Joey, thanks. And don't worry; I know you can cook this. Dinner will be fine."

As Joey set about his task, Serenity went into the bathroom to make sure that she looked ok. It had been a hectic day alright. Her hair was a little out of place, but a few strokes and it was all going back in the right direction again. Smiling in the mirror, she thought about where she was now headed. Butterflies began to dance in her stomach and she told herself to calm down. 'I'm already late…' she thought, but, despite this, she still remained in the same spot. 'This is crazy. Me and Kaiba? Yeah, like that would ever happen…' she leaned forward and stared at her reflection. 'Yeah…kinda crazy…'

Exiting the bathroom a few minutes later, Serenity made her way back into the kitchen in order to get her coat. The night would probably be cold later and she would be glad that she had it.

"Alright Joey, I'm gonna leave now…" She picked up her coat and then turned to say goodbye to her brother. "I should probably be back—" Her words cut off as soon as she saw what Joey was doing. Trying to pour the whole bottle of sauce into the wok.

"No, Joey! Don't do that!" Leaving her coat and rushing over to stop him, she managed to save the pan from being flooded. "Here, let me see it." Taking the bottle from his hand, she set it on the counter and let out a sigh. 'Looks like I will be doing all of the cooking after all…'

Ten minutes later, with the fish simmering nicely and four o'clock on the way, Serenity was finally ready to leave. "Ok Joey, now when the timer goes off that I set for you, come over and turn the heat off. After that all you'll have to do is get the other items and then serve them, ok?"

Joey stood by, smiling sheepishly. "Alright Sis. Sorry 'bout this. I didn't mean to make you late or nothing. You're just better at these kinds of things I guess." He turned towards the stove, "Anyway, thanks for all your help. I don't know what I'd do without ya."

Smiling at his comment, Serenity agreed. "Yeah, I don't know what you'd do either. Anyway, have fun tonight. No making out with Mai, ok?"

"Serenity!" Joey exclaimed, blushing. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"I was only kidding, don't worry." Serenity laughed at how embarrassed Joey had become. "I guess a little kiss would be ok…"

"Serenity, you better cut that out right now…" Joey said, chastising her. "You know it's not like that."

"Yeah…sure it _isn't_" Laughing at her brother, Serenity conceded. "Ok, ok, fine. It's not like that. Anyway, I've gotta go. Mai will be here soon and I'm already late. So I'll see you later tonight, k? I won't be back too early…I wanna leave you two alone for a while…" Winking at Joey, Serenity turned around and walked out of the apartment as Joey ranted in the background about it not being "like that" with Mai.

'Whatever Joey…' she thought to herself, knowing better then to believe him. 'If that's what you think…'

Turning her attention back to her destination, she felt herself grow nervous again. She hadn't told Kaiba what time she was going to come see him today, but still…she usually did arrive right after school…

'I hope he's not angry or anything…' she thought to herself, as she walked out to the car that she and Joey shared. 'He was just starting to warm up to me a bit too…I hope I didn't screw anything up.' Sighing as she got into the vehicle, she pulled the door shut behind her and started the ignition. 'Well…here I go…'

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Alright, alright, so that's the end of chapter 12…so what'd ya think, hmmm? I hope everyone thought it was good. Please review, you know, with comments, suggestions, ideas, *praises* heehee well anything you would like actually! I love 'em and I read 'em! So thanks a lot for supporting this story. I know that every time I see that the chapter has gotten many reviews, well, it makes me want to write more and more and more. So yeah, if you review, I will write. Or type, haha. Deal? Deal. Ok, so let's see what kind of gifts I have to give out this chappie…hmmm…~looks around the Kaiba mansion~ well…there is this nice lovely painting of the BEUD behind Seto's desk…he loves it, but then I love you guys, so why not? ~takes down painting~ Oh it's so cute! And…scary. Heehee. Well just like Seto, they only _look _tough. Underneath they're just big softies! So enjoy! Oh, and I can't forget the candy! Well, you can never go wrong with chocolate so here, ~hands out giant bags of chocolate~ hope you enjoy! Alright, well I'm off now so see ya next chapter! Oh, and don't forget to review. Thanks and have a nice day!

~Seren147


	13. Chocolate does it every time!

Well, it is me again, Seren147, and I bring with me a new chapter! Isn't that lovely? Well I hope we all agree that it is. Sorry that it took me so long to get it out, but I had final exams at school for the past three weeks! So most of my "free" time was taken up with studying…but anyway, school is almost ending for me, it ends this Friday (yey!) and then after that no more school until August! Yey! Lol that will be good. I don't like school very much but then who does? So when does school end for everybody else out there? And what are your summer plans? Mine are to probably finish this fic (there are still many more chappies on the way) and just laze about I guess. You know, it's strange, but I think that chapter 12 was my favorite chapter that I've written so far. I don't know why, but I just love that chapter. (lol!) Well anyway, hope you enjoy this chap and just remember that I do not own YGO or any of its characters, just this plot!

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**_13. Chocolate Does it Every Time!_**

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Serenity panted as she rushed through the hospital's doors. 'Oh no…' she thought, glancing down at her watch. It was fifteen minutes after four. 'I'm late!'

Making her way down the familiar path to the elevator, she quickly pushed the button and got inside. Her heartbeat started to slow as she allowed herself to rest as the elevator took her up. She had rushed the whole way to the hospital after leaving the apartment that she and Joey shared; and it had been one hectic day.

'I hope Kaiba's not mad…' she thought, then smiled to herself. 'In order for him to be mad though, he would have had to have been waiting for me…' The thought that Seto might have actually been waiting for her amused her. 'Yeah, maybe in my dreams…' As the door opened, she stepped out and took in a deep breath. Resuming a normal pace in her walk, she continued on until she came to Kaiba's door. Hesitating as she always did before she came to see him; she finally knocked on his door. All of a sudden, it flew open while her hand was still raised in the air. She felt someone grab her arm roughly and pull her into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Where the hell have you been, I've been waiting for over an hour!" Recovering from the shock of having been pulled roughly into the room, Serenity now felt a new surprise come over her. 'What…?' she thought, 'He _was_ waiting?'

"You…you have?" she asked in reply.

Pulling up the sleeve of his black shirt to glance at his watch, Kaiba answered her. "As a matter of fact, I have. I've been waiting forever to get out of this place."

"But…I thought you don't get released until tomorrow?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes as he gazed down at her in irritation. "I _don't_ get released until tomorrow. But just because I don't get released until tomorrow doesn't mean that I can't leave today."

Serenity looked up at him, slightly confused. "What do you mean…?"

Sighing and then crossing his arms, Kaiba looked down at her before replying. "What I'm saying is, let's go. They finally gave in and are letting me go out for awhile today. So let's hurry up and get out of here. They won't let me leave without a damned escort, so let's go already."

Surprised at his response, she nodded in agreement. 'Ha, he does need me.' she thought in her mind, amused. 'Bet no one's ever been in this situation before.'

"Alright then, let's go." she said aloud to him. Smiling as he swiftly moved towards the door, she then snapped out of her daze and hurried to catch up with him.

As they quickly made their way down the hall, and then, to Serenity's dismay, the stairs, she repeatedly tried to ask him what the plan was. 'Just where is it that we are heading?' she thought, trying to catch Kaiba's attention. No such luck though; this was one place that he wanted the hell out of and fast. Kaiba kept going, ignoring everything in his path as well as Serenity who struggled to keep up with his fast pace, until they finally reached outside of the hospital grounds. It was there that Kaiba finally paused, looking around.

As Serenity finally caught up to him after his fast walk without her, she finally was able to ask the question that had been on her mind. "So where are we going, anyway?"

Seeming not to notice her, Kaiba continued to look around and then reached in the pocket of his trenchcoat in search of his cell phone.

Serenity frowned at his action, or rather, his lack of action in regards to her. 'Guess I was only his "get out of jail free" card' she thought rather bitterly. Crossing her arms in front of her while she waited for Kaiba, she let out a sigh. 'What am I supposed to do with…this?' She continued watching Kaiba as he frantically went through all his pockets systematically.

"Damn it." he swore, as he finally gave up his search.

"What's wrong, Seto?" asked Serenity, as she saw him look angrily back at the hospital building.

He looked back at her and then replied, "What's wrong is that I left my damn cell phone in that hellhole behind you. Now I can't call my driver, and I don't expect that you have a phone on you, now do you?" He smirked when he saw her look embarrassingly at the ground. "Yeah, I didn't think so. And for the record, it's Kaiba."

Serenity's gaze shifted from the ground to Kaiba's face. "Huh?" she asked, confused at his last statement.

He let out another irritated sigh. "My name is Kaiba to you. Not Seto. Kaiba."

Serenity felt her cheeks heat up as he said this. "Well yeah, I mean, I know. I know that everyone calls you Kaiba. But…you know…I just thought that—"

"You thought what?" Kaiba interrupted impatiently.

Feeling even more stupid while the pink blush still spread across her face, Serenity diverted her gaze once more to the ground and muttered the last part.

"I guess I just thought that since we were friends I could call you by your first name. Pretty stupid, right?"

Still standing with her head bent down, she waited to hear his insidious agreement. When he didn't say anything after a few moments had passed, however, curiosity got the best of her. She looked up. Kaiba was still standing there looking at her, however, the anger seemed to be gone from his face and in its place was a rather amused look. 'Is that good or bad?' she thought. She didn't know, or maybe she didn't want to know, so she decided to forget the whole thing and move on.

"So…Kaiba…what do you want to do then? Do you want to go back and get your cell phone or…maybe you want to go somewhere…I mean, what were you planning on doing before I arrived?"

A look of irritation once again crossed his face. "No, I do not want to go back in there. I am so fucking tired of that place that I never want to see it again in my life. And I _was_ going to go by my office to pick up some paperwork but I guess that that is out of the question now. It will just have to wait until tomorrow." He sighed once again and turned his gaze back to her. "Well, it's not like it matters anyway. I can fix all the problems that those imbeciles at my company made when I 'get released' tomorrow." He shook his head. "Damn. I'm going to have so many things to fix once I get back to KaibaCorp. That's why I don't want to waste my time around here."

Serenity looked at him and nodded. "I understand. I mean, I know it must be awfully frustrating for you when you're so used to being in charge and running your own corporation and everything…but still, sometimes it's a good thing to sit back and relax a little…" she finished, as she tried to smile reassuringly at him.

"Yeah. I guess." came the arrogant reply, "You can do that. As long as you're prepared to take all the losses that will come from all the time that you've wasted."

"But Seto," Serenity pleaded, trying to make him understand, "You can't work all the time. Sometimes a little relaxation is what is needed to get a person, or a company, up and running again. Taking a rest every once in a while will help you to do even better work."

When he didn't respond, Serenity suddenly realized the mistake she had made. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry…Kaiba." She looked down awkwardly and wished that somehow she could have made this day better. 'What is there that I can do…?' she wondered silently, watching the tall CEO in front of her. They were both still standing outside the hospital grounds, appearing as if they were waiting for something. 'Come on, think, Serenity, think! He can't call his driver…and you can't use your car for various reasons, one being that it's a hunk of junk and two being that it also belongs to Joey…so…what can I do…?'

Gazing at her as she appeared to be in deep thought, Seto's face softened a little. 'Well…I guess it's not so bad…' he thought, 'I mean, there _are_ worse people that I could be stuck with. At least it's _this_ Wheeler and not the mutt.' Looking down at her, he felt the corner of his mouth turn upwards slightly. 'Damn it,' he thought, 'she's doing it to me again.' Preoccupied with his thoughts, he suddenly felt a hand on his arm.

"Come on, Kaiba, I know what we can do!" Kaiba looked down at Serenity pulling on his arm. Narrowing his eyes, he asked her what anyone would in his situation. "Are you crazy?"

'Come on Serenity, just go with it…' Mentally pumping herself, Serenity decided to just go for it. She laughed at his reaction and started walking down the street, trying to pull him along with her. There was a little resistance on his part.

"Well, it's a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, you know, all that normal, every-day beautiful stuff." She laughed again at the look on his face when she said this. "Come on, since we don't have a car, let's just walk. We'll find _something_ to do along the way, I mean, it's gotta be better then whatever is back at that hospital, right?"

Smiling as he finally, although reluctantly, agreed with her, she managed to get him to start walking beside her. Still holding onto his arm, she looked up at him and smiled. 'Maybe if I act happy, he'll become a little happier…' she thought, hoping this would prove true, if only a little bit.

Looking back down at her, Kaiba decided not to shrug her off. 'She'd probably cry or something if I did that…' he thought. Deep down, though, he knew that it was just him not wanting her to let go. It felt kind of…kind of…nice. Even though he would be the last person to admit it.

"Kaiba?" a voice interrupted.

He shifted his gaze to Serenity beside him. "What?"

"Thank you."

As she smiled sweetly up at him, Seto felt a warmness spread throughout his chest. He stopped the warmth before it could show on his face, and simply nodded curtly at her as they continued walking down the street.

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"Well, Joey, I must say that I am quite impressed with this little dinner you put together here." Mai paused as she took a sip of water out of her glass. "Or should I say I'm quite impressed with the way Serenity prepared dinner?" She smiled sweetly at him from across the table as a slight blush began to creep across his face.

"N-No, she did _not_ prepare this dinner," Joey stammered, as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "I mean, come on Mai, a deal is a deal, and I said that _I'd_ do it, ok?" He looked up at Mai, hoping that she had bought his story. Or at least some of it anyway.

"Un-huh." Was Mai's simple reply, as she continued to stare at him coyly.

Joey decided to remain silent, and returned her stare with one of his own. 'Geeze, how long is this gonna last?' he thought to himself, as the minutes ticked by and Mai's gaze didn't budge. She was remaining cool, but Joey…well, Joey was losing it fast.

"Alright!" Joey finally screamed. "She cooked the dinner! Are you happy now!" He let out a sigh and slumped forward on the table. "Believe me; it was better for both of us that way."

Joey looked up suddenly when he heard Mai start to laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Well," Mai started to say, in between her laugh, "you really crack under pressure, don't you Joey Wheeler? I mean…you couldn't even take me staring at you for two minutes!" She continued to laugh as Joey's face became red once more.

"I-I could to!" answered Joey, blushing even more, "and it was a lot longer then two minutes, so stop laughing already!"

"S…Sorry…" Mai managed to squeak out, still laughing.

Joey waited while she finished up. When it had seemed like she had gotten a hold of herself, he said, "Are you finished laughing at me already? I mean come on! Give a guy a break! I helped out with the dinner…well…kind of…I mean, I attempted to and all…"

"Joey, sometimes you are just too cute."

"…huh?" Joey stopped his explanation of how he "helped out" with dinner and started to blush again instead. "Oh…well…it was nothing and…umm…"

Mai smiled. "Instead of babbling, how about you tell me what's for dessert tonight, huh Joey?"

Joey stopped rambling once again to answer her. 'Dang, what is she doing to me?' he thought to himself.

"Uhhh…sure, umm…let's see. Oh yeah! We've got some chocolate-frosted cupcakes for dessert. Now the bakery made those Mai, so I hope you're not too disappointed in my 'cooking'."

Mai shook her head and smiled at him once again. "No, Joey, how could I ever be disappointed in you?"

Joey stood up and reached to clear the dishes. "Well…uhh…dang Mai, why're you bein so nice to me all of a sudden? You're actin too weird for me." He smiled at her while he took her plate. "I mean, maybe Marik's got you under some kind of mind control or somethin, cause you're actin _really_ strange, that's for sure."

Mai scowled at his back as he turned to put the dishes in the sink. "Hmmp." she said, "you don't know anything." She crossed her arms and turned her back to him to give him the message. "Stupid Joey...can't make anything pleasant…" she muttered.

"Oh is that right?" came the reply from behind her back. "Well I do know that you'd look a lot better with chocolate all over your face!"

Mai narrowed her eyes and started to turn around to ask him what the hell he was talking about when a hand came from over her head and smushed something right into her face. It went everywhere…in her mouth, in her nose…

Meanwhile, someone was laughing hysterically behind her. 'A **_dead_** someone,' Mai thought. She sat there with her arms crossed and the chocolate frosting from the cupcake smeared all over her face while Joey continued laughing behind her. Slowly, she turned towards him. To say that she was seething would be an understatement.

"Joey…Wheeler…" she said through gritted, chocolate-stained teeth, "I hope you've prepared your will 'cause YOU'RE GONNA DIE!" She lunged for the pink box he was holding in his hands while he was still bent over from laughing. Tearing it from him, she opened it up and took cupcake after cupcake out and smashed it wherever she could on him…the top of his head, in his ear, on his face…

'Now _this_,' Mai thought, 'is kind of fun.'

When she had ran out of ammo, she dropped the box and stepped back to admire her work. Joey had somehow fallen down during her assault and was now seated on the floor, his whole head and the front of his white shirt simply _covered_ in chocolate frosting. "Man, Joey, if I turned off the lights I wouldn't be able to find you!" she laughed.

As she looked down at Joey, who only sat without moving and stared at her, she began to feel the teensiest bit afraid. 'Maybe I went overboard…' she thought.

"Umm, Joey?" she questioned hesitantly. "Are you alright…?"

Staring up at her, Joey suddenly began to laugh again. "Mai…you…you really got me good there…" he said to her, in between his laughter.

Relieved that he wasn't mad, Mai began to laugh as well. "Yeah, well, you deserved it kid. You messed with the wrong girl. Touch Mai and die. Remember that."

He only continued to look up at her and laughed even more. "Here," he said, reaching out his hand, "if you're finished with ruining our dessert already, help me up."

"What? And get _more _frosting on me? I don't think so. You can help yourself up."

"Is that so?" Joey answered, reaching up to the counter and pulling himself up. "Well I'll show you!"

He suddenly lunged at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him and his chocolate-smeared body.

"Wh-what?" Mai stammered, surprised, "What are you doing Joey?" Realization of the meanings of his actions dawned on her and she began to struggle to get away. "No…no…you are not getting that mess all over my nice clean clothes!"

As Joey began to rub his cheek across her face and smear chocolate across her shirt with his own, she finally gave up her protests and started to laugh along with him. When he finally pulled his face away from her, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're gonna pay for that." she told him, "You know that right? You messed up my nice outfit that I wore especially for _your_ dinner."

"Is that right?" Joey asked, as he tightened his grip around her waist, "Well that's just too bad."

He smiled at her as she smiled back and, although it was not awkward, the moment seemed to last forever…

"Well you know what, Joey?" Mai whispered to him softly.

"What's that?" Joey whispered back.

"Since you didn't make dinner yourself tonight, then that means that you still owe me for your bet."

"Well I don't know about that, Mai. I mean, I did _have _dinner for you and all…"

"Doesn't count." Mai interrupted.

"Doesn't count?"

"Nope…"

"Well then," Joey replied softly, "How 'bout I make it up with this…?"

He slowly leaned towards Mai and gently kissed her on the lips. As he felt her grip around his neck tighten, he softly pulled away and smiled at her. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and then kissed her on her chocolate-smeared forehead.

"How's that, Mai?" he asked her softly, "Will that make up for it?"

She smiled and then nodded back at him, and he felt a joy spread throughout his body.

'Finally…' he thought, 'finally…I can tell Mai about how I feel for her…or I can show her…'

He smiled at her again and met her lips once more with his own as they stood standing in his kitchen, wrapped up in the sense of love…and each other.

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"So this is where you wanted to go?" Seto looked incredulously at the theme park that now lay before him. "You can't be serious."

He looked down at Serenity and shook his head. "Absolutely not. I've got better things to do then waste my time at an amusement park."

"Like going back to a boring hospital?" Serenity asked, looking up at him. "Come on, Kaiba, this is at least a _little_ better. Be adventurous for a change." When he didn't respond to her prodding, she started pulling on his arm once again to make him walk and smiled up at him. "Come on, I promise it will be fun."

Kaiba frowned as he reluctantly walked with her into the park. "Fine. But don't expect me to do anything." he said.

"Alright." Serenity smiled at his compromise and began to look around as they walked through the park. "Oh look Kaiba! There's the merry-go-round."

"Don't even say it." Kaiba answered her. "I am not about to get on anything, let alone a _child's_ ride."

"Well who ever said anything about you riding on it?" Serenity asked.

Kaiba looked down at her with a surprised look on his face. He hadn't expected _that_ response. He had thought that she would whine the whole time at him to do this and do that…but she wasn't.

"Why don't you wait here while I ride on it? I mean, that is, if you don't mind Kaiba." Serenity looked up at him sweetly and waited for his response.

He sighed, looking back down at her. 'What am I getting myself into?' he thought.

"Fine…I'll wait…"

"Ok! Thanks Kaiba!" Serenity said enthusiastically as she let go of his arm and rushed to get on before the ride started again. He watched as she boarded the platform and picked out a duel monster to ride on.

"Look Kaiba!" she called to him, pointing at one of the duel monsters near her. "A Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

'How old does she think I am, ten?' he thought, as he nodded at her. She smiled back at him and got on it. As the ride started up, he watched her go around and around. She looked so delicate compared to the Blue-Eyes she was riding on, yet she laughed and laughed. "I really don't see what's so funny…" he muttered to himself.

As the ride ended and she made her way back towards him, he looked at her expectantly. "Well?" he asked sarcastically, with his trademark smirk intact, "Did you have fun?"

"As a matter of fact I did, Kaiba. Maybe you should try it sometime." She smiled up at him and then started walking again. Confused by Serenity's actions, Kaiba followed.

After they had walked through most of the park, neither riding any more rides, Serenity suggested that they walk towards the exit. "It's about time." Kaiba agreed.

As dusk approached and they closed in on the exit, Serenity suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" questioned Kaiba.

"Umm…nothing…" she answered, and then looked up at him with pleading eyes.

'Oh no…' he thought. 'What does she want from me now?'

"Yes? What is it? What do you want?" he asked her again, impatient for her to be out with it.

"Well…it's just…whenever I come here, I always ride the ferris wheel with Joey before I leave…" she looked over to where the ride stood before the exit. "It's just kinda tradition, you know? So I just thought that maybe…you know…we could maybe ride it…together?" Serenity bit her lip and looked up at Kaiba in expectation. "Please?"

Kaiba looked back at her unwaveringly. "First of all, don't _ever _compare me with that mutt. Second of all, didn't I tell you not to expect me to do anything when we entered this park? Why do you think I'd suddenly change my mind all of a sudden? Just because you have some silly tradition?"

"Well, I was just hoping, I mean, you don't have to be so rude." Serenity felt herself starting to get angry at what Kaiba had said to her. "I mean I did keep you company today and all."

"So you're trying to guilt me into it, is that it?"

"No! Not at all! I just meant that it would be nice…at least I thought it would be nice."

Kaiba cut her off. "If it's so nice then why don't you go on it yourself?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, Serenity felt so much anger that she didn't know how to respond. She didn't know if she even _wanted _to respond. Instead of answering him, she simply turned her back on him and walked away.

As Kaiba watched her leave, he sighed to himself in frustration. "Serenity!" he called, quickly walking after her, "Serenity! Wait!"

He had almost caught up to her when she suddenly stopped and turned around, causing him to bump into her. "What?" she yelled. He looked down at her and saw tears in her eyes.

"I'll go on the stupid ride with you." he muttered down to her. He said it so low that Serenity couldn't make out what he had said.

"What?" she asked.

"I said I'd go on the stupid ride with you, ok? Are you happy now?" He sighed in irritation and avoided her gaze as she started to feel the anger leave her.

A tiny smile on her lips, she asked him, "And why would you do that?"

He shifted his gaze back to where she stood in front of him and didn't say anything for so long that she thought he wasn't going to respond.

"Because…" he finally answered, staring off into the distance. "Just because…"

Serenity smiled at him while he continued to look off into the distance. "Ok." she said, as he turned to look at her. "Ok."

As they stared at each other under the setting of the sun, Kaiba felt a sort of affection for Serenity come over him. "You really are something, you know that?" he told her.

As she continued smiling at him, he suddenly snapped back into his "normal" mode. He got a hold of himself and quickly set his mental attitude as well as his body language back into its usual guarded demeanor. "Well let's go already!" he said harshly to her, hoping that she hadn't noticed the shift in his change of voice.

"Ok," Serenity answered him gently, linking her arm in his, "Let's go."

"Hmmp." came the reply, as he started walking briskly towards the ride, practically dragging her along behind him.

'Act as tough as you want, Seto Kaiba,' Serenity thought affectionately as they approached the line for the ferris wheel, 'but I just saw the side of you that makes me want to fall in love with you…I only hope I can bring it out. Please, Seto, you've gotta try. You've gotta stop being this false, angry person that you put on as a front…and just be yourself.'

As they both reached the line and stopped to wait for their turn to board, Kaiba glanced over at Serenity and then gave her a strange look. 'What is she staring at me for!' he thought, wrenching his arm out of her grasp. 'Damn, I never should have said those words to her. Now she probably thinks I have some kind of feelings for her or something.' He smirked. 'Little does she know, I do. Feelings of contempt, that is. I don't need her. I would never like a lowlife Wheeler like her.'

"What are you staring at?" he asked, scowling at her.

"Oh, nothing." she replied, smiling up at him.

He felt the scowl disappear off of his face and quickly looked away. 'She _is_ kind of cute when she smiles like that…' he thought, and then mentally slapped himself. 'No shit, Kaiba, what did you just tell yourself about never liking a Wheeler like her? After you go on this silly ride with her, you better back off quick and get her the hell out of your life before she messes it up even more.' Mentally agreeing with himself, his smug smirk made its way back onto his face. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'that's exactly what I need to do. No sweat.'

"Next!" called the guy at the gate entrance to the ferris wheel, motioning to Kaiba and Serenity to step on the platform and board the cart he had waiting.

"Come on Kaiba!" Serenity cried, grabbing his hand and pulling him up with her. He let out a cry of surprise as she took his hand in hers. 'Serenity…' he thought, as she pulled him up to the lift cart with her. Seating himself beside her, he watched in surprise as she still looked over at him happily even after how cruel he had just treated her.

"I can't believe you're still here with me." he stated simply, in a monotone voice, wondering what her reaction would be.

"Kaiba…I'll always be here for you." she said simply. Her response once again left him feeling a sort of shock, and he was left with nothing to say to her. Instead, he merely shifted his gaze off into the night as the ferris wheel began its ascent upwards. Serenity watched all this transpire, knowing how confused she must be making him feel. 'He expects me to be mean back to him…but I can't do that if I want to bring the real Kaiba out. I need to show him what it's like to have a friend…and to be loved…only then can he experience it for himself.'

Still staring off into the distance, Kaiba tried not to notice as Serenity studied his face…and kept her hand tightly entwined in his.

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Alright, so yey that was the longest chapter that I have written for this story so far! So what did everybody think? I hope everyone enjoyed it! I'm not going too OOC on Kaiba's part, am I? I hope not! But you know what? I feel like this is the best chapter that I've written so far. I don't know why, I mean, I really liked chapter 12, but I also like this one as well! I think that they are getting better as I go along, probably from more experience since this is my first multi-chaptered fic. But anyway, I like how it's going, and hopefully you all do as well! As for gifts to give out this chapter, well…..I give you all a pink bakery box full of chocolate-frosted cupcakes! Yum yum! Mai and Joey had fun with them so hopefully you will too! Yey! Well, that is all for now, so please review and tell me what you think! I welcome all comments, questions, ideas, criticisms or praises, anything to help me make my story better! Thank you again!

~Seren147


	14. The end of an 'amusing' day

Hello again, it is I, Seren147 and it is that time again. Yes! Time for a chapter update! So without much further adieu, here is chapter 14!

Oh, and I don't own YGO or any of its characters. Only this story. Thank you.

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**_14. The End of an "Amusing" Day_**

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"Hey Téa, what do you think about some cotton candy? I see a vendor over there." Yugi pointed off into the distance as he turned to talk to his friend. "I don't know about you, but I've been wanting some all day."

Téa smiled as she looked down at Yugi. "Ok, sure! That sounds great."

As they both started to make their way to the cotton candy vendor, Yugi suddenly stopped in his tracks and started laughing.

"What is it?" Téa asked him, concerned.

"Well…it's just that…just that…"

Téa rolled her eyes impatiently. "Just what, Yugi?"

As Yugi's laughter died down, he managed to get his words out. "Well, we're missing someone! I think Tristan is still back in the bathroom."

As they both turned to look back at where the public restrooms were located, giggles erupted anew as they saw Tristan looking around frantically for them. He finally spotted them and trotted over.

"Hey guys, thought I lost you for a moment there!" he said, as he came to a stop beside them. "Sorry if I took too long. All I can say is to never eat carnival burritos."

As Téa and Yugi laughed and Tristan looked embarrassed, they once again resumed their walk towards the vendor.

"Up for some cotton candy, Tristan?" Yugi asked, looking over to his brown haired friend.

"I'm not too sure about that one, Yugi." Tristan replied, rubbing his stomach. "Maybe I'll just sit this one out." He smiled at them. "You guys go on ahead; I'll wait here for you."

"Are you sure, Tristan?" Téa asked, opening up her purse. "It's my treat."

"Nah," Tristan regretfully declined, "But thanks anyway."

As Yugi and Téa made their way to the vendor, Tristan walked over to a nearby bench to sit and wait for them. The wind was starting to blow, and Tristan pulled his coat around himself tighter. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was near 7 PM. 'If we leave now, we can still make it to the movies…' he thought, as he looked around aimlessly and people-watched. Yugi and Téa were still talking to the vendor man.

"I wish they'd hurry up…" Tristan muttered to himself, tapping his fingers on the back of the bench. "It's getting cold out here…" He yawned as his gaze wandered over to the ferris wheel…where he couldn't believe his eyes.

"That's not…that's not…" Sitting up perfectly straight and narrowing his eyes, Tristan attempted to get a better look at just who it was exactly that was seated in one of the carts. "I don't _believe_ it…"

Bouncing up out of his seat, he quickly made his way over to where Yugi and Téa had just received their treat.

"Hey guys you won't believe what I just saw!" He exclaimed loudly, startling Yugi and making him drop his sweet.

"Quiet down, Tristan, everyone is looking!" Téa scolded, as she attempted to help Yugi pick up his ruined cotton candy. "Ugh, this is a mess."

"Sorry," Tristan replied impatiently, "but you're not gonna believe this!"

"Believe what, Tristan?" Yugi asked, as he walked over to a nearby garbage can and deposited the sticky mess. "Téa, do you think you can hand me some of those napkins over there?"

"Sure thing, Yugi, hold on."

Tristan tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the two to finish up. "Well," he explained, "I just saw Seto Kaiba on the ferris wheel—"

"Well that's sure odd." Téa interrupted.

Tristan gave her a look and then went on. "_Anyway_, as I was saying, I just saw Seto Kaiba on the ferris wheel…and he was _with Serenity!_"

"Serenity?" Yugi repeated, staring at Tristan.

"Yeah. Serenity." Tristan confirmed, feeling himself start to get angry. "I mean what in the world would he want with a sweet girl like her—"

"Well he did kind of save her." Téa pointed out, trying to look over Tristan's shoulder at the ferris wheel. It had already come to a stop.

"Yeah, 'save' her, whatever, that's all past. What I wanna know is what is he doing with her right now! And since when does he come to theme parks?"

"Tristan, calm down!" Téa shouted, desperate to shut Tristan up. "We all know that you have some big crush on her or whatever but did you ever stop to think that there may be more to this then what you think!"

Standing to the side of his two angry friends, Yugi bit his lip thoughtfully. "Like what, Téa?" he asked quietly, hoping to calm his friends down.

"Well, like, ummm…like…" Téa started to frown. "Well, I don't know, maybe she's trying to thank him for his kindness or something."

They all smiled at the statement she had made and she finally rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, so maybe not _that_." she agreed.

"Oh look, there they are!" Tristan suddenly whispered, pulling on Yugi and Téa as they quickly hid themselves behind a nearby structure. "Don't let them see us."

"Why so secretive?" Téa asked, and was quickly silenced by Tristan.

They turned their attention to the couple making their way to the exit of the theme park.

"They look…so happy..." Téa murmured, gazing at the faces of Serenity and Kaiba as they walked by. Serenity's laugh was the only sound that they could hear clearly; the rest of their conversation remained a mystery.

"Wow guys," said Yugi, "look at Kaiba."

His usual arrogant smirk was gone and in its place was something that just didn't seem right on Kaiba for some reason. It wasn't exactly a smile but…it was close.

"Yeah…" answered Téa, "I've never seen him look that way before."

As Serenity and Kaiba finally disappeared around the corner and out of sight, Yugi, Téa and Tristan came out from their hiding spot.

"Woah," Téa said, astonished, "Did we just see what I think we just saw?"

"Yeah," answered Yugi, "I think we did."

They looked at each other with wide eyes and then turned to the silent Tristan.

"Uhhh…Tristan?" Yugi asked him, a little worried by his friend's countenance, "Are you ok?"

Tristan remained silent, with his jaw set, staring at the ground. He gave no answer.

"Maybe it's not what it seems…" Yugi tried to get Tristan to talk, but he just looked so…so angry. His silence scared Yugi.

"Well whatever we do, we can't tell Joey about this." Téa quipped. "Whatever…_that_…was," she motioned towards the exit where they had last seen Serenity and Kaiba. "He can't ever know about this."

"Yeah, I agree." said Yugi, nodding. "At least for now. He'd just get too angry and do something rash, I mean, we don't even know the circumstances. Just because they were here together doesn't mean that it was a…_date_…you know?"

"What else would it be?" Tristan asked softly. His anger seemed to fade as he spoke those words, and now he just looked depressed. "What else would they be doing here?"

"Come on, Tristan!" Téa snapped at him, "It's **Kaiba** for crying out loud. He'd _never_ date!"

"You…think so?" asked Tristan, looking up from the ground to her face.

"I know so!" She replied, "And besides that, he _hates_ Joey. Do you think he'd ever go out with his sister?"

"Well…no…" Tristan agreed, and then smiled a little. "I guess you're right about that one. He _does_ hate Joey."

Yugi and Téa nodded as Tristan started perking up again. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Serenity was probably just doing that out of the goodness of her heart!"

As Tristan was pumped up again and began walking off without them, Yugi and Téa looked at each other. They knew that Téa's explanation to Tristan didn't quite cover the whole story.

"I wonder what's really going on?" Yugi whispered to Téa. "I mean, what _were_ they doing here? Joey was saying that Serenity had been spending a lot of time around Kaiba but…he hasn't mentioned anything for a few days now. I didn't even know that she still visited with him."

Téa shrugged and then looked at Yugi. "I don't know any more then you do. I just didn't want Tristan to get all upset and everything…" Yugi nodded as Téa went on, "I mean, if Tristan got _that _upset over barely seeing them together, imagine what would happen if they really _were_ on a date! Or worse, if Joey found out! You know how protective he is over Serenity, and how much he hates Kaiba."

"Hey guys, you comin' or what?" Téa and Yugi looked up from their whispered conversation and saw Tristan motioning to them. "I thought you were right behind me!"

"Ok, we'll be right there!" Téa yelled to him, and then looked back at Yugi. "I'll talk to Serenity about this, but, no matter what, I don't think you should tell Joey. Not until we know more…and then maybe not even then."

Yugi nodded his agreement, and then looked down. "Joey is one of my best friends, and I don't like keeping secrets from him…but I also have to look out for him. Right now, I do think that it would be better keeping it from him, but…if anything _is_ happening between Kaiba and Serenity, Joey _does_ deserve to know." He smiled and then looked up. "I just don't want to be the one that has to tell him."

"Yeah, I understand that one Yugi!" Téa agreed, laughing. "I'll let you know what happens after I talk to Serenity."

"Ok" Yugi nodded and then pointed over to where Tristan was still waiting for them. "Oops, I think we're looking a little suspicious over here. We better go catch up with Tristan."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Téa agreed, as they started walking over to Tristan.

"So just what were you guys talking about, anyway?" Tristan questioned, eyes narrowed. "Stuff about me?"

"Oh yeah, Tristan," Téa told him, walking past him and laughing, "We always talk about you when you're twenty feet away from us." She smiled, and then winked at Yugi. "Actually, Yugi and I were talking about a date of our own later."

"Is that so?" Tristan asked Yugi, his voice heavy with insinuation. He flipped a thumbs up to Yugi. "You 'da man, Yuge."

Blushing from the actions of _both_ of his friends, Yugi asked himself why he bothered to hang out with either of them.

"Cool it Tristan, it's just a study date." Téa told him, winking again at Yugi. "We're just working on a little project."

Yugi straightened up as he finally realized what Téa was talking about. The "Operation find out what's going on with Serenity and Kaiba" project. "Oh yeah," he said, "So when did you want me to come over for that anyway?"

"Oh, a few days or so." Téa answered nonchalantly. "I'll call you."

"Ok." said Yugi.

Tristan stood back, giving his friends weird looks. He couldn't help but feel he was missing something. "Hey," he said, "Am I missing something here?"

"Yeah, you're gonna miss ice-cream if you don't hurry up already." Téa told him, as she walked with Yugi towards a different vendor this time. As Tristan hurried to catch up with them, Yugi sighed and said, "Well, I sure hope I don't spill my ice-cream like I spilled my cotton candy."

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"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Serenity looked up at Kaiba and laughed. "You did great on the ferris wheel by the way."

"I wouldn't call it fun…" Kaiba muttered, staring down at the ground as they walked down the street that lay outside the theme park.

"Oh…well…it still beat staying at the hospital, right?"

"…Yeah…I guess…" he replied. "Although anything is better then being stuck there, where I can't even do a thing on my own." He looked down at her. "Even being stuck here with you."

Serenity narrowed her eyes at Kaiba's words. 'Is that a compliment…or an insult?' she thought. She looked up at Kaiba and then back down to the ground. 'He seems…I don't know. I can't really tell what kind of mood he's in…besides a bad one that is. But that's perpetual.'

"So, ummm…sorry about holding your hand so tight…" Serenity slowly said, blushing at her words. 'Maybe that's why he's mad…' she thought. "I'm just a little scared of heights, and well, you saw how far that ride went up."

"You're the one who wanted to ride it." Kaiba replied. "If you were so scared then you shouldn't have acted like you wanted to do it so bad."

"Well, Joey is usually with me, so its ok. And I don't get _that_ scared. I'm not some big baby you know."

"Well you sure act like one…" Kaiba muttered under his breath.

Serenity didn't hear what he had said but refrained from asking him to repeat it. She wasn't sure she even wanted to hear whatever it had been.

The sun was setting fast and the wind was picking up as they continued walking with no particular destination in mind. No one said anything and they just walked along together in silence. There was hardly any traffic on the street that they were on and soon Serenity saw the outline of the Domino Pier in the distance. 'I guess that place is as good as any…'

Serenity snuck a look at Kaiba from the corner of her eye. He was gazing upwards at the darkening sky and seemed to be lost in thought. 'I wonder what he's thinking…' He looked almost peaceful at the moment, the first time that she had really seen that look on his face the whole afternoon.

"Kaiba?" Serenity asked, breaking the silence that had formed between them.

"Yeah?" He said, changing his gaze from the sky to her face. She felt herself starting to blush under his intent stare.

"Ummm…nothing." Serenity broke her gaze away from Kaiba's eyes and tried not to look nervous. She was going to suggest that they walk along the pier…but when he had looked at her like that…

Instead of saying anything, Serenity just gradually led the way towards the Pier. There were a few other couples walking about, enjoying the sunset and the close comfort of one another…but overall it was pretty deserted. Kaiba continued to walk silently beside her.

As they continued walking and left the other lovers behind, Serenity finally stopped and broke the silence once again when she saw a bench off in the distance. It faced the beach and the sand, and a glorious view of the reddening sun. Its beauty almost brought tears to her eyes.

"Seto…how about there?" She motioned towards the bench and then resumed her walk towards it without waiting for his response.

He stared after her for a few moments and then followed her. Seating himself next to her when they had reached the bench, he waited for her to say something. When she didn't, he shifted his gaze from the view to her sitting beside him.

She was staring out at what was left of the blazing sun before it diminished over the waves, a slight smile on her face. She looked so calm, so beautiful, and so…serene. In that moment she truly lived up to her name…and he felt it spreading to him, throughout him. All the words that he had said earlier, all the thoughts of not needing her, of not wanting her…they all disappeared in this moment.

As Serenity sat there, she had yet to notice Kaiba looking at her. Enjoying the view but feeling chilled, she brought her hands up and crossed her arms in order to conserve her warmth. In her scurried attempt to help Joey with dinner earlier that afternoon she had gone off and left her coat…and now she regretted it.

Startled by movements beside her, she quickly looked over and noticed that Kaiba was taking off his trenchcoat.

"Here." he said gruffly, "It's not much, but it will keep you a little warmer at least." He turned and began to drape it over her shoulders.

"Thank you…Seto." She smiled at him as he looked up from his task. His hands still on her shoulders, she slowly brought her left hand up to cover one of his own. "Thank you very much…for your kindness."

As much as the words should have nauseated him, he didn't move. He only continued staring at her, feeling something inside of him, something warm, unlike anything he had ever felt before. "Serenity…" He didn't want that feeling to disappear. Not yet. Bringing his other hand to her chin, the one that wasn't covered by her own, he gently tilted her face up and softly put his lips to her own…and kissed her.

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Ok, so there is the end of chapter 14! *looks over content she has written* Oh! I like it I like it! Hopefully all of you out there do too. Leave me a review please! (I love 'em) More reviews mean faster chapter updates! Yey! So…anyway…wonder what's gonna happen in the next chapter? Ohhh how will Kaiba react to his own actions? How will Serenity react? Most importantly, will Joey find out, and if he does, how will _he_ react? Well, guess we'll just have to wait and see! (I haven't written it yet…) So anyway, a few side notes, this story still has many chapters ahead in it, regardless of how it looks now, and I've got many ideas for the future. I think (or at least I hope) this story improves with every chapter because ever since chapter 12, I've loved these chapters! Hopefully everyone agrees and I'm not just being delusional lol. So ummm…for this chapter's giveaway I'm giving out cotton candy and ice-cream for all, courtesy of Yugi. Feel free to share yours with him since he dropped his cotton candy and…regretfully…he also dropped his ice-cream as well while he inserted his head into a "Dark Magician" cut-out for a photo souvenir. Other then that, please just leave a review with questions, comments, ideas, anything to help encourage me or make the story better. Thank you for all your time and patience! You guys are wonderful. Until next time…

~Seren147


	15. Mystery and Confusion

Hello everybody, yes, it is I, and I am still alive. Seren147. Sorry it's been almost two months since I last updated (!) and I can honestly say that I would have updated like a month ago except my (old) laptop totally crashed on me and took with it everything I had written for chapter 15. The good news is I have a brand spankin new laptop now, so now all I had to do was rewrite ch. 15! This was a pain since I had already written it! Well anyway, that doesn't really matter right now, what matters is that I am doing an update finally! So here it is and I hope that you enjoy it. I'm doing it all for you guys! Enjoy!

P.S. I don't own YGO or any of its characters so don't ask.

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**_15. Mystery & Confusion_**

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"I'm sorry."

Those were the first words that escaped from Seto Kaiba's mouth as he pulled away from the kiss that he had placed so gently on Serenity's lips.

'Where did that come from?' Kaiba thought, turning away from the girl who sat next to him on the bench. He hadn't apologized to anyone in years. There had never been any need to.

"Seto?"

He felt a hand close around his arm in concern. Shaking her off, he quickly stood up and tried to regain his cold composure. "Let's go." he said harshly, not waiting for her to respond but simply grabbing his trenchcoat and walking off without her. Pushing the thoughts of _why_ he had kissed her, _how_ he let himself get so weak in that moment, to the back of his mind for now, he simply focused on keeping the brisk pace that he had set for them. He heard Serenity call out to him a few times, but didn't slow. He smirked slightly when he heard her running behind him, trying to keep up with his pace for the second time that day.

'I don't know what's wrong with him...' Serenity thought, following Kaiba back the way they had come earlier that day. 'I thought, for a moment...that he...did I do something wrong?'

Neither talked until they had reached the block where the hospital was located. Stopping abruptly outside the hospital grounds, Kaiba felt Serenity run into his back. Stepping and turning around quickly, he decided to make a short and clean break with her. The last thing he needed was for her to think that that kiss had meant something. Then she would never leave him alone.

"Seto?" she questioned him, as he stood before her with his arms crossed, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Look," he started, "I apologize for what happened back there. For a brief moment I lost my head. That shouldn't have happened."

"Seto..." Serenity began, but Kaiba quickly cut her off.

"It's Kaiba." He interrupted, "And if you don't mind, I'm going to make this short and sweet right now because I don't have time to stand around here and chat with someone who has the wrong ideas about me. I won't ever have time to just stand around and chat with you, and I would like it if from now on you would just leave me alone. I don't care if you feel guilty, I don't care if you think I'm a hero, what I do care about is that after I get released from here tomorrow, I don't have to worry about you following me around like you expect something. I have my own life to get back to as I'm sure you do as well. I have Mokuba, I have my company, and I'm going to have enough stress without you hanging around like you owe me something. You don't owe me a damn thing, so get it through your head already! We're not friends, we're not going to be friends, and if that..._kiss_...threw you off, then I'm setting you straight. We're nothing."

Serenity stood there in front of Kaiba, waiting for him to finish. She could feel tears in her eyes but refused to let them drop. No, he had already caused her enough pain. For good. Whatever she thought she had seen in him had obviously been wrong.

"Fine." She answered quietly, after he had finished saying all that he was going to say. "If that's how you want it."

"I do." He answered.

"Then I won't bother you anymore." She turned quickly and walked away so that he wouldn't see the tears that had finally escaped her eyes. She wanted to look strong in front of him, not weak. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of proving everything he said right. She shook her head. 'I'm such a fool...' She hoped she never saw Seto Kaiba again in her life.

Watching her walk away, Kaiba took an involuntary step forward. 'Maybe I was...too harsh...' he thought, before trying to shake the thoughts out of his own head.

"No," he said aloud, "I did the right thing." Turning quickly on his heels, he made his way back towards the hospital, trenchcoat flapping in the wind behind him.

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The figure that had been watching while Seto and Serenity had been sitting on the pier slowly got over his shock. Shaking his head and trying to make sense out of everything that he had seen, he slowly walked away over the sandy beach.

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"Ahhh..." Joey sighed, flopping himself down onto the couch. Mai had just left and he was in a daze. Placing his hand on his head, he asked himself what she was doing to him. He had never imagined that by the time she had left they would be "official". He smiled wildly to himself. It had been a great day.

"I need to call Tristan and tell him..." Joey spoke aloud, turning his head to look for the phone. He sat up and placed a hand on his stomach. "Now where did I put that phone..." he said, and then noticed something about the front of his shirt. Pulling his hand away, he saw that it was brown...and crusty...

"Oh gross!" he shouted, suddenly remembering the chocolate frosting that Mai had put there earlier. Somehow he had totally forgotten about it.

"First shower, then Tristan." Joey exclaimed, getting up and walking to his bedroom to get some fresh clothes. He glanced at the clock. "Wonder when Serenity's getting' home?"

Shrugging to himself, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

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"Joey?" Serenity called, standing outside of the bathroom door in their apartment. She had just arrived and was glad that she wouldn't have to face her brother. She had tried to calm herself down as much as she could before going home, but she knew that if he saw her he would still be able to tell she was upset. "Joey?" she tried again, raising her voice so he could hear her over the water.

"Is that you, sis?" she heard him shout, and smiled slightly to herself. 'Who else would it be?' she thought.

"Yeah, it's me Joey." She said.

"Alright, I'll be out in just a few minutes." Came the reply.

Serenity shook her head. It was better if she just didn't see Joey tonight. She'd probably end up crying and he'd try to be the big brother and then the whole mess would come out...she didn't need that right now.

"It's ok Joey, I think I'm just going to go to bed. I'm really tired tonight."

"Alright," Joey answered, "Musta had a good time then if you're so tired. Anyway, see ya in the mornin sis."

"Yeah ok." Serenity said, and then turned away from the door. "You have no idea..." she muttered.

Making her way to her room, Serenity walked in and threw herself facedown on her bed, clothes and all, and cried herself to sleep.

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Wrapping a towel around his head, Joey came out of the bathroom and spotted the phone lying nearby on a bookcase. "So there's where it went..." he said, picking it up and dialing Tristan's number.

Sitting himself down on the couch again, he waited for Tristan to pick up. As the phone rang he thought about Serenity and decided to go check on her.

"Hello?" a voice answered on the other end as Joey was walking through the kitchen.

"Hey Tristan! It's me, Joey! Man have I got some news for you. You're not gonna believe what happened today! Oh wait, hold up Trist I gotta check on Serenity a minute."

"Oh, you mean she's back already?" Tristan replied, "Well that's good."

"What'd ya mean?" Joey questioned, sticking his head in his sister's room. She was lying on her stomach and it looked like she had already passed out into dreamland. Smiling to himself, he closed her door and started walking back to where he wouldn't disturb her.

"Oh, well...ummm...me and Téa and Yugi saw her earlier today while we were out. In fact, I just got home myself. You're lucky you caught me. Anyway how did your date with Mai go?"

"Huh?" Joey said, trying to get a hold on everything that Tristan had rambled off at him. He decided to ignore most of it. "Oh well that's good. Oh man Tristan you wouldn't believe what happened after Mai came over..."

"Well tell me man, that's what I'm here for."

"Alright, hold on!" Joey sank down on the couch and began to smile. "Now you see Trist, when you've got a smooth talker like me, _everything_ always goes according to plan with the ladies..."

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So that's the end of Chapter 15! Wow, Tristan didn't spill the beans! Who would have thought that? Even I thought he would when I started writing this chapter, so he surprised me too! And if you are wondering about the rest of the conversation that is going on between Joey and Tristan, well, it's just guy stuff and Joey's version of what happened with Mai. I know it was kind of a weird place to end the chapter. That and it wasn't very long this time around but I couldn't remember everything that happened that I wrote before my old laptop crapped out on me. And I think it was better too...at least I felt like all the material I lost went a bit smoother then this that I re-wrote. Sorry about that. Next chapter should be better. I have lots of plans for it! Anyway, I hope that you guys all liked it and again, I'm sorry for the long wait on the update. I'll try never to let that happen again! (huggles her new laptop) Well anyway, thank you everyone and please review!

~Seren147

P.S. Something I found funny, every time I type "kaiba" in lowercase on my computer, it automatically corrects it to "Kaiba". I think he's trying to warn me or something, lol!


	16. Memories and Questions

Hello everyone! It is I, Seren147, and here is an update for you all and sorry it's coming so late. Enjoy!

P.S. I don't own YGO so don't ask. Just like every chapter.

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**_16. Memories & Questions_**

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Her eyes fixed dejectedly on the floor, Serenity made her way slowly down Domino High School's hallway, towards the exit. School had just let out and it had been at least a week since her last run-in with Kaiba, and she still didn't know what to do about the situation.

'I'm not sure if I should cry...or be happy...or just...forget about him...I'm so confused, I wish this never would have happened to me...'

Suddenly she gasped as she felt something, or rather, someone, run into her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Serenity looked up and saw a girl she didn't know. "Sorry..." she muttered quickly, before going around the strange girl. She could hear the girl muttering profanities about her as she walked away.

And that's how it had been going for the past week. She was just feeling so...out of it lately. Trying to deal with Kaiba's rejection, trying to look happy and normal in front of Joey, trying to get away from Duke's advances...it was all beginning to be too much. She felt spread thin, and didn't even know what to do about it, let alone how to fix it.

She sighed again and continued walking towards the exit.

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'Serenity...'

Kaiba looked towards where the girl was walking, coming slowly toward him. 'Not that she knows that...'

Indeed, she didn't even notice that Kaiba had stopped a few feet up ahead in the hallway. She was so absorbed in her own tired thoughts that he completely escaped her view.

He watched as she walked numbly by him without looking up, studying her as she went by. 'Did I do the right thing...?' he thought, thinking back to their falling out the previous week. 'Maybe...maybe she wasn't so bad...'

Kaiba shook his head slightly, trying to shake out the thoughts. He didn't want to think that maybe he had made the wrong decision, that maybe he did want to be around her...at least a little bit anyway. He couldn't afford to make bad decisions.

'No...it was right...it _had_ to have been right...'

Letting out a sigh of his own, he glanced at Serenity one more time and then turned and headed in the opposite direction, on his way to KaibaCorp.

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"Hey Hon, what's wrong with you?"

Serenity looked up after Mai had spoken. Mai had graciously offered to give Serenity a ride home in her new blue Mustang convertible so she wouldn't have to walk all the way home by herself. She also didn't mind giving Serenity a ride home since she was on her way to the Wheeler residence anyway...she had a date with Joey that afternoon.

Serenity sighed. "Oh nothing, Mai. I guess I'm just a little bit under the weather."

"Under the weather, huh? Then that must be one huge storm you're under. You haven't seemed like yourself lately."

Serenity smiled wistfully, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She was glad that Mai had the top up on her convertible otherwise it would be blowing all over the place.

"Well Mai...do you ever have those times where you just don't feel like yourself? Where everything seems to be going wrong and you just don't know what to do about it?" She glanced up at Mai, wondering how the blond woman would answer.

"Do I know what that's like? Serenity, you're talking about the story of my life. I know I don't talk about my past all that much, but I didn't exactly grow up in a wonderful loving environment you know." She paused and glanced from the road over to the brown haired girl sitting in the passenger seat. "Although I would have killed to have had someone to love and protect me back then like Joey does with you now."

Serenity smiled. "Yeah, I know, Joey's great." She paused and sighed. "But I can't rely on him forever...he can't always be there for me because he's never going to know how to fix _everything_ that I'm dealing with...Joey just isn't good with some things."

"Hmmmm, well I would say about the only thing Joey isn't good with with you so far is when it comes to you dating." Mai let out a quick laugh. "You know how jealous he gets of Duke and Tristan when they come around, and they're his friends!"

"Yeah, I know..." Serenity replied, "I didn't mean that..."

"So just what do you mean?" Mai questioned.

"Well..." Serenity hesitated. 'Do I really want to share these feelings?' she thought to herself, 'I mean...I trust Mai...but maybe I should just keep this to myself...'

Mai glanced over again at Serenity and saw the look of deep thought on her face. 'Poor thing...whatever she's going through, it must be big...'

"Come on Serenity..." Mai said softly, "I can see that this is important." Serenity looked up at Mai, surprised at the change of tone that Mai's voice took on.

"Mai?"

"Believe me, Serenity, it will feel better if you just get it off your chest. Let me help you. I may be your brother's girlfriend now, but that doesn't mean that I can't still be _your _friend. And..." Mai paused and winked at Serenity, "...that also doesn't mean that I have to _tell_ him everything either."

Serenity smiled at Mai's words, the first real smile that she had given in a week. It felt so strange...to have her face move that way again...

"Mai..." Serenity began, looking down at her hands that rested in her lap, "Maybe you're right..."

"Mm-hmm." Came the reply.

"But," Serenity went on, seriously, "you have to promise not to tell anyone. _Especially_ Joey. Something happened Mai...and he would absolutely freak if he found out..."

"Ok..." Mai said worriedly. 'Something happened?' she thought to herself, 'Something...bad?'

Seeing the look on Mai's face, Serenity quickly tried to assure her. "Nothing _that_ bad Mai, just some...girl issues...I suppose." Serenity tried to give Mai a reassuring smile. "You'll see."

"Ok..." Mai replied. "We'll stop somewhere. I know a small café up ahead that we can get a table at and you can unload everything that's bothering you. It's not good to carry it all around you know."

"Yeah...I know..." Serenity answered.

"Well, I'm glad that you're going to tell _someone_ anyway, and I promise that I won't betray your trust. Now..." Mai gestured to her handbag that lay by Serenity's feet. "Reach in there and hand me my cell phone. I gotta call Joey and tell him that we'll be a little late...girl stuff, you know."

Serenity reached into Mai's purse to find her phone and smiled. "Yeah, I know." She found what she was looking for and handed it to Mai. "And Mai?"

"Yeah?" Mai answered, taking the cell phone from Serenity.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

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Kaiba stood in the elevator, rubbing his temple as he waited for it to ascend to the top floor. He had massive amounts of paperwork waiting for him in his office, as well as a massive headache now to go along with it. His torso still hurt slightly, although he had been released from the hospital a week before. He gingerly brought his hand to where his wound was still healing, and grimaced slightly as the pain flared up. For some reason, seeing Serenity in the hall earlier that day had intensified it.

"Just what was wrong with her anyway?" Kaiba muttered to himself, shifting his eyes to look at the digital numbers change as the floors were counted off. He sighed again, a habit that he never had before but seemed to have picked up quite recently. Removing his hand from his stomach and letting it drop to his side, he leaned back against the elevator wall and closed his eyes. He felt more tired than normal lately, and he wasn't sure if it was a result from the operation he had a few weeks ago, or the bandaged wound he had now to show for it, or if it was just the endless thoughts he had of that girl running through his mind. She just wouldn't leave him alone, even when she _did_ leave him alone. She always seemed to be in his thoughts lately, and she was affecting the way he did business, the way he lived his life. And that was unacceptable.

As the elevator's automated voice informed him that he had reached the top floor of KaibaCorp, Kaiba reopened his eyes and began to prepare himself for a long evening at work. Even though he had just gotten out of school for the day, he still had loads of things to do in front of him before the night was over. Life wasn't as simple as homework anymore. It never had been for him.

Walking toward his office door, he went over a mental checklist of what he had to do. 'Let's see...there are the investment papers to look over, the company's charts to approve, that meeting to set up..."

"Nii-sama! Surprise!"

Kaiba jerked out of his thoughts as he walked into his office, the place where he was supposed to spend the rest of his night...in _quiet_.

"Mokuba." Kaiba stated, annoyed at this unexpected interruption. "What are you doing here?" He frowned at his little brother as he set his briefcase on top of his desk. "Shouldn't you be at soccer practice by now or something?"

Mokuba smiled and shook his head. "Nope. It was cancelled today because the coach got sick. I was bored so I decided to come see you."

"Mokuba, you know that I don't like to be disturbed when I'm at my office. I have work to do. I can't entertain you." Kaiba sighed again as he sank into his chair and leaned back. He closed his eyes once more and brought his hand to his temple again. 'Man...it's really starting to throb now...' he thought.

"I know," Mokuba answered in a quiet voice. "I know all your rules Seto."

Surprised at his mood change, Kaiba opened his eyes and looked over at where Mokuba was sitting across from him.

"Yeah? Then why are you here if you know what I'm going to say already?"

"Well..." Mokuba began, "I actually came here for a reason other than being bored. I really wanted to talk to you about something."

"And what's that?" Kaiba asked.

"Well...you've seemed really down lately Seto. Not yourself. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Kaiba smirked. "Nothing other then what is usually going on in my life. Running a company takes hard work Mokuba. And you know how hard I work at it."

"I know big brother, but is that really healthy? You just got released from the hospital not too long ago..."

"Yes, I'm all too aware of that Mokuba. But it doesn't change the fact that I still have a company to run, and it doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to do it."

"I _know_ that, Seto. I wasn't born yesterday. I know that you won't quit, even if it kills you. That's just who you are."

"Good. I'm glad that you understand." Kaiba turned and sat up straight in his chair, opening his briefcase and beginning to take files out. "Now, if you don't mind, why don't you run along and play a videogame or do your homework or whatever it is you do after school...I need to go over these papers." He looked up at Mokuba expectantly, and was surprised to see him wincing. "Mokuba...what's wrong?"

Mokuba just looked down at the carpeting on the floor, not responding.

"Mokuba?" Kaiba tried again, perplexed at his behavior.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Mokuba suddenly exclaimed, standing up quickly from the seat in front of Kaiba's desk, "You're what's wrong! You're so busy here all the time; you don't even know what I _do_ after school! You never come to my soccer games, you're never around the mansion anymore, and I bet you don't even _know_ what my hobbies are! Do you even know what my favorite color is? I'm your _brother_ Seto! Not some stupid obstacle or something to be 'scheduled in'!"

"I _know_ that Mokuba," Kaiba growled, "but you also _know_ that I'm not like other people. I'm not like your friends brothers; I can't afford to be like them! You know I have to work, that I have to run this company. Would you rather me let this corporation sink into the ground while I watch some stupid soccer game? I can't allow that!"

Mokuba gritted his teeth and looked away. He had gotten upset at his brother in the past for never being there, for changing on him the way he did, for not being like he was in the past...but he had never gotten this upset before. But this time it was different. This time...he had seen a side of his brother that he had never experienced before, even when they were little. And it was all because of that girl.

"Seto..." Mokuba started, looking back at his older brother and trying to control himself, "I still didn't tell you why I came here today. This...this is part of it...but...I have something else to say as well."

"Then say it." Came the tight reply from his brother.

Mokuba took in a shaky breath and then continued. "Seto...I've been watching you for the past week. Ever since Serenity stopped coming around. And you haven't been yourself Seto. Well...I don't mean your usual self, self, but what I mean is that for a little while I thought you were happy. At least, happier then before." He paused and looked up at how his big brother was taking it. He doubted it was well.

Kaiba simply gazed at his younger brother. "Go on."

"Well..." Mokuba paused and bit his lip. He wasn't sure how Seto would take what he was about to tell him. "I saw you...down at the beach..."

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly as he remembered the last time he had been to Domino Pier...he never went down there usually, but he had been there about a week ago...with her...

Mokuba gathered his courage and looked up at his brother. "I saw you there while I was in practice with my soccer team. I saw you there with Serenity! And you-you k-"

"Since when does the beach teach you how to play soccer Mokuba?" Came the quick interruption, before Mokuba could say what Kaiba _knew_ he was going to say. Kaiba frowned, dismayed with this new development. He hadn't planned on being seen by anyone; he just wanted this whole thing behind him so he could move on.

Mokuba stopped and shrugged. "Running in the sand is a good way to strengthen you leg muscles Seto. But that doesn't matter. What I was trying to say is that I saw you-"

"Mokuba, I think you should leave now." Kaiba swiftly got out of his chair and walked around to where Mokuba was sitting. Folding his arms across his chest, he frowned down at the younger Kaiba.

Mokuba looked up at him. "But Seto—" he began, "Why won't you-"

"No more, Mokuba. I don't have time to listen to all this nonsense. I have a ton of work to do right now and none of it is getting done by me sitting here and listening to you."

After his harsh reply, he turned around and moved to the door, opening it so his little brother could exit. "I'll try not to be too late tonight; maybe we can go out to dinner or something. I can't promise it though."

Bribing usually worked when he wanted to get Mokuba out of his hair, so he was hoping that it would work this time as well.

Mokuba frowned again as he watched his brother stand there, holding the door open expectantly. 'I guess I was right to expect this...' he thought.

Getting up slowly from his chair, Mokuba moved over to where he could stand in front of Seto.

"Seto...please...I know something is bothering you." Kaiba rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of frustration but Mokuba continued anyway. "I know it's about Serenity. She hasn't been around and...well, I miss her. And I know you do too."

Kaiba opened his mouth to refute that but then changed his mind and closed it again. He figured Mokuba would leave faster if he just heard him out.

"You were really happy when she was around, even though you didn't show it." Mokuba smiled. "I could tell though, even if she couldn't. I know she's something special to you Seto..."

Mokuba looked carefully at his brother's face, hoping to find an indication of some kind of feeling or something...but there was none. He remained looking stoic, staring down at his younger brother.

"Well anyway," Mokuba said in a rush, "I saw you kiss her so you had to have liked her somehow. You're probably just freaked out about it right now 'cause this kind of stuff has never happened to you before. I think that's it anyway. You should go and get her back."

Kaiba's face visibly tightened as Mokuba finished those words. "Mokuba. Out. _Now_."

Mokuba quickly nodded at Kaiba's words. He knew how far to push his brother...and he had a feeling that he had pushed a little too hard today. "Right. Well, see you at home then Nii-sama!" Mokuba looked back at Kaiba as he walked out the door and smiled cheerfully. 'I hope my little speech works...' he thought to himself, 'Otherwise...this is going to be bad...'

After Mokuba left, Kaiba swiftly shut the door and shook his head. His head hurt even more now, and he wasn't quite sure what to think about Mokuba's words. Walking back to his desk, he opened the top left-hand drawer and pulled out a bottle of aspirin.

'So he saw us...' Kaiba thought to himself, shaking out two of the pills and then swallowing them without water. He sighed and then snapped the cap back on the bottle and replaced it in the drawer. Sitting back down again at his desk, he let his eyes wander over the different objects there.

'Is Mokuba right...? Maybe...maybe I kind of did like her hanging around...she was clumsy and careless, but amusing to watch. And then I did..._kiss_...her...what does that mean?' Kaiba leaned back in his chair again, the back of his head resting on the top. He stared up at the expensive white ceiling above him. 'It's true...I kind of miss her...so...what should I do about it?'

He sighed again lightly to himself and began to think.

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Alright! That is the end of chapter sixteen! Not bad, right? So please review and let me know what you think of it! Well, that's enough out of me for this chapter. Please read it, enjoy it, and review it! Thanks!

~Seren147


	17. Tea Time and Girl Talk

Hello hello! I am back again with another chapter! Please enjoy!

P.S. I don't own YGO.

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**_17. Tea Time & Girl Talk_**

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Serenity looked up from her cup of tea and glanced at Mai, wondering how the blond woman was going to take everything that she had just heard. Serenity had just spilled it all—everything she was feeling, everything that had happened between her and Kaiba and everything that she was so unsure of now…although Serenity didn't know if this was a wise decision or not on her part, telling someone about everything that had been bothering her and getting it off of her chest definitely seemed well worth it.

Now all she was waiting for were Mai's thoughts, Mai's advice, Mai's…reply. Had she done the right thing?

Mai's face was solemn and thoughtful as she looked down at the tablecloth. She and Serenity had come to this little café about an hour ago…after they had ordered their tea, Serenity had basically spilled her guts to Mai.

Now Mai was trying to find the words to answer Serenity in a way that would both convey _her_ feelings while not sounding insensitive to the situation. 'Messing with Kaiba is bad news no matter who you are…' Mai thought, finally raising her violet eyes to look into Serenity's hazel ones, 'Especially if you have someone like Joey who cares about you.'

She didn't say this out loud though. She was a girl first before she was Joey's girlfriend, and she knew that in situations like this, encouragement and understanding were the best methods.

"Serenity…" Mai finally began, "What exactly do you feel towards Kaiba?"

Serenity seemed startled at the question, but quickly recovered and then responded to Mai's question. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well…" Mai drew out, "It seems pretty clear to me how you feel towards him, but…how clear is it to you?"

Serenity thought for a moment over what Mai had just told her. "Well…when he…kissed…me, I…I guess I liked it." She could feel her cheeks heat up while she continued. "But…even before…that…happened, I still wanted to be around him. He's not _that_ bad, Mai, Joey just doesn't know him."

"Yes, but we're not talking about Joey here, now are we?" Mai asked, "We both know that Joey doesn't like him…but Joey doesn't dictate how _you_ feel, now does he?"

Serenity slowly shook her head and then smiled. "No," she answered, "He doesn't. I love my brother, but I am my own person too. And I…I really care about Kaiba. Even if Joey doesn't. I do. I want to be around him more. I want to learn why he is the way he is…and try to help him found out what he can be. You know Mai, when Kaiba smiled—"

"Woah woah woah!" Mai interrupted, "_Kaiba_ smiled?"

Serenity's face lit up at Mai's incredulity. "Yup," she confirmed, "only a few times, but when he did…it was…indescribable, I guess…Everyone is so used to seeing him frown that when he does smile, he seems like a whole other person. Mai. I want to _be_ with that person."

Mai stared into Serenity's eyes for a few seconds before replying, seeing only the sincerity that occupied those orbs. 'The girl is serious!' Mai thought. She took a deep breath and smiled at Serenity, ready to tell her what she thought about the situation.

"Serenity," Mai began, "you do realize that Kaiba frowns a _whole_ lot more then he smiles. Now I know that you two may have had a few fun times together and everything, but are you sure that you can handle all the times when Kaiba isn't this person that you enjoy seeing the bright side of, the one that you are sure you want to be with? If you have some preconceived idea about who he is, or even about what you think you can _make_ him be, and then he doesn't live up to those expectations when you two are finally together…Serenity, hon…that might just be a recipe for heartbreak."

Serenity sighed. This wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she knew that it was the truth. "Mai, you're right," Serenity agreed, nodding her head, "but I still want to try…I just can't…give up. Mai…I think I love him."

Mai's eyes went wide at those words. "Love him?" she repeated, shocked. 'Who knew someone would ever freely love Kaiba?' she thought to herself, staring at Serenity's red-flushed face. 'And especially Serenity…' Mai marveled to herself. 'Who would have ever thought it?'

Serenity slowly nodded, affirming Mai's words. "Yes…" she whispered, looking down into her cup of tea again, "I think I do."

"And what about Joey?" Mai asked.

Serenity licked her lips and looked back up at Mai. A sly grin slowly crossed her face. "What _about_ Joey?" she answered.

Mai began to grin. "Well…I think it will be a little hard for him to accept this…but then again…who says that he has to accept it _right now_? There's always…tomorrow." Mai winked at Serenity. "Besides, you and Kaiba aren't even an official couple yet."

At this last part, Serenity's face fell. "Oh yeah…" she murmured, "about that…"

Mai's smile left her face, replaced by a look of concern at Serenity's sudden change of character. "What?" she questioned.

"Well…how am I supposed to even get _near_ Kaiba, I mean, he made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to see _me_ again." Serenity tried to fight off the tears that were threatening to well up in her eyes. "Mai…what am I supposed to do?"

"Serenity…" Mai reached across the table and took one of Serenity's pale hands in her own. The poor girl looked like she was about to cry, which made Mai, in turn, feel absolutely miserable.

"Serenity…" Mai said again, softly, "Don't you know how Kaiba is by now? He pushes everyone away…but that doesn't mean that that is what he really wants. I've seen him be rude to even Mokuba, and that's his own flesh and blood. Serenity…Kaiba is just…well…the man has these walls around him for protection. He's afraid of being hurt. That's all it is."

"But I'm not going to hurt him, Mai." Serenity responded softly, "I just want to help him."

"I know, hon," Mai said, "I know that you would never hurt him. It's just…_he_ doesn't know that. He'd never admit to any of this, but I know that the truth is that he's just scared. If you want to help him Serenity…you've got to help him realize that he has nothing to be scared _of_." Mai smiled encouragingly at Serenity. "I think that once he realizes that not _everyone_ is out to get him, _or_," Mai stated pointedly, making sure Serenity got the message, "_intimidated_ by him, well…I think maybe then he'll start showing more of this side of him that you love so much."

Serenity nodded, agreeing with what Mai was telling her. She felt much calmer now thanks to Mai's kind words.

"But…" Mai continued, "There's still something that I want to say. Serenity, in all relationships, you have the good and the bad. Kaiba is never going to _fully_ turn into this lighter side of himself…I think he has too many past issues to deal with for that…but I do believe that he _can_ change for the better if you help him. That may be hard sometimes Serenity, especially since it's Kaiba we're talking about, but you can do it if you believe, and love, him enough."

"Thanks Mai." Serenity smiled. "I know that Kaiba will always be somewhat cold and aloof with the world…I just don't want him to be that way with me. He started opening himself up to me, just a little maybe, but it _was_ there. Mai," Serenity said softly, "I'll take care of him. I'll love him. The good _and_ the bad."

"Good." Mai commented, "Because with Kaiba, I think that is the best you can hope for." Mai smirked, then looked back at Serenity in alarm. "Uh, what I mean is, don't get discouraged by what I say! What do I know anyway?" Mai rolled her eyes and then smiled at Serenity. "I'm dating your brother. I think that speaks for itself."

Serenity giggled and then agreed. "Yeah, I think so." It made her smile that, although Mai teased Joey mercilessly, she really did care for him. "I'm glad that you are, though, Mai."

Mai smiled and then released Serenity's hand, leaning back into her own chair again. "Yeah…" she confessed, "Me too."

The two women were interrupted for a brief moment while the waitress came and brought them their check. After she left, Serenity resumed talking to Mai. "So…" she said, "Now that I've made up my mind to _not_ leave Kaiba alone, what should I do? I mean…" Serenity finished nervously, "I don't want to seem like some crazy stalker or anything!"

"Yeah…" Mai agreed, taking out her wallet to pay for the bill. "That would definintly _hinder_ our plan…" After placing the amount owed into the check cover and closing it, she continued, "Well, I guess the best and most logical thing to do would to be to go and see him."

"You mean…face to face?" Serenity asked.

Mai smiled. "Well what else did you have in mind, hon? Of course go and see him face to face! _That_, I believe, will be the only thing to make you look non-stalkery." Mai thought for a moment. "Hmmm, I don't think that's a word, but oh well. You know what I mean. You can't just hide out in the bushes and wait for him to walk by you know."

Serenity giggled at the image that conjured. "Yeah, I know. But I'm so…nervous! I mean, I wonder what he'll say when he sees that it's _me_ again…" Serenity's face took on a solemn look. "He probably won't be too thrilled."

"Oh, you never know." Mai told her, while the waitress picked up their tab and left to bring Mai back change, "Kaiba's probably been worried sick about why you haven't been around him lately!"

"You think so?" Serenity asked, doubtful.

"Well…maybe not worried _sick_…" Mai admitted honestly, "but I bet he's missed seeing your little face around. Trust me on that one. What guy wouldn't? I mean there's obviously Tristan…and Duke…"

"Oh Mai, stop!" Serenity laughed, "Not any of them! They're nice but…but…they won't leave me alone! Duke has been bugging me about some dance coming up and I try to avoid Tristan whenever I see him…"

Mai laughed. "Yeah, well I can see why. The boy just doesn't have what it takes to make your knees quiver. Not like _Kaiba_…" she added mischievously, watching amused as Serenity's cheeks started to flame up again.

"Hey!" Serenity said, "Don't tease me! He does _not_ make my knees quiver…"

"Sure…" Mai replied. Just then the waitress brought back her change and thanked them for coming to the café. Mai nodded and then stuffed her change back in her purse, after leaving a generous tip for the lady.

"So…" Mai said, picking her car keys out of her purse and swinging them around her index finger, "What do you say we stop by KaibaCorp real fast before I head out on my date with Joey?" She gave Serenity a coy look. "What do you say?"

Serenity took a deep breath and then nodded. "Ok. I think I'm ready."

"Good!" Mai exclaimed, standing up. Serenity followed suit. "Now that is what I wanna hear! Go and get your man!"

"Mai…" Serenity whispered, embarrassed at the woman's loud outburst. She quickly glanced around and noticed that several heads in the café had turned their way. "Let's go…"

Ushering the blond woman out the door, Serenity couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and friendship. 'Yeah…' she thought to herself, 'I'm glad that I told Mai…'

Opening the car door and then plopping herself down on the seat, Serenity turned to Mai. "Mai…I don't know how to thank you enough for everything…thank you for listening to me…"

Mai smiled at Serenity and then pushed her key into the ignition. "No problem, Kiddo." With that said, she pushed her foot down on the accelerator and they quickly were on their way to KaibaCorp.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Trying to do his paperwork for what seemed like hours now; Kaiba finally sighed to himself and put the sheets down. He turned towards his computer, hoping to get a start on some charts for KaibaCorps' growth spurt, but quickly found that he couldn't focus on that either. Glancing at the computers clock, he noted that it had been only about an hour since Mokuba had left him.

"That kid…" Kaiba muttered to himself, thinking about Mokuba and the conversation that they had had...

That was it. He couldn't get the conversation out of his head. He couldn't get _her_ out of his head. "Serenity…"

What was he going to do about her? He had to do _something_ he felt, if only to ease his guilt about yelling at her to get lost. 'Yeah…' he thought, 'it's only guilt. It's probably because of that stupid kiss. I should just apologize and get it over with. Apologize…' Kaiba was stunned at his own thoughts. That would make twice that he would have apologized to this girl…something that the great Seto Kaiba _never_ did.

Eventually shaking his thoughts away, Kaiba stood up and reached towards where he had laid his briefcase. 'I'll just go the mutt's house and demand to see her…what can he say anyway? Then I'll…I'll…" Kaiba stopped putting his papers in his briefcase and simply stood still, thinking. 'I'll what?' For once in his life, Kaiba didn't know his next move. He didn't have a plan. It was an unpleasant feeling…

Frowning at this new development, he resumed quickly stuffing his work back into his briefcase.

'I'll just take care of this and then I'll never have to deal with it again. It will be through. And that Mutt better not get in my way…' he thought darkly, walking towards the door of his office so he could exit, 'or he'll live to regret it…'

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Alright everybody! That will be the end of chapter 17! I hope that that first scene between Mai and Serenity wasn't too long or boring…it _does_ take up most of this chapter. But to make up for it I left a bit of a cliffhanger! Will Serenity reach KaibaCorp in time or will she miss Kaiba as he heads for her house…and her brother! haha, I feel like I'm doing a commercial or something! Well anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the reading AND the faster update! PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you thought of it!

~Seren147

P.S. For this chapter I'm giving you all a weird present! It's a bottle of aspirin, specifically, the one that Kaiba used last chapter! Just think of it as a memento of him, I guess…yeah, I'm weird! Plus, I had a headache earlier this morning. Almost couldn't go to class, darn!

Until next time, bye bye my lovely readers!


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